Now, no pillion on bike, just one passenger in car

TNN | Apr 16, 2020, 04:23 IST

Nagpur: From Thursday, city police would not allow pillion riders on bikes not more than one passenger in car following advisory issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the second phase of national lockdown. The restrictions will not apply to the exempted essential services or in cases of medical emergency.
City police chief BK Upadhyay also on Wednesday announced ‘Covid Yoddha Yojana’ as part of community policing. Every police station would rope in 30-35 ‘Covid Yoddhas’ or warriors as ‘Special Police Officers’ who would work as ambassadors of ‘social distance’.
Every police station would also hire six autorickshaws with loudspeakers for creating awareness at congested places, especially slums and markets. They will be manned by a Covid Yoddha and police personnel.
Following a joint review meeting involving different government agencies and video-conferencing of top cops with director general of police (DGP) Subhodh K Jaiswal, city police top brass have issued the latest direction to modify some enforcement plans.
Guardian minister Nitin Raut, who was present in the review meeting, told TOI he had asked police to be stricter against curfew violators. He also sounded disappointed with city police having issued large numbers of passes to public for essential commodities and emergency services.
Upadhyay said the police’s focus would now be on the hotspots, containment areas and crowd control as public are showing restlessness. “Every day, we are taking legal action on violators in large numbers. With the new guidelines expected on April 20, we need to wait and watch for the local variations and frame our strategies accordingly,” he said.
Joint CP Ravindra Kadam said more intense action was expected in the new phase of lockdown in terms of enforcement of social distancing and related norms. He also indicated tougher approach depending on the circumstances.
On Wednesday, city police detained 37 persons found on the road without permission. In all, 189 cases were registered for various violations in the city. Police also seized 19 vehicles.
SP Balsing Rajput of state cyber security cell informed that 201 cases were registered across the state for posting fake news and hate messages.
City police’s cyber cell, under DCP Shweta Khedkar, also rounded up three persons for spreading rumours on social media about the unidentified person spitting on the road to spread corona. The posts were deleted apart from warning notices served to the three.