Police manoeuvre strategy to make lockdown effective

TNN | May 5, 2020, 05:00 IST

Ranchi: From screening films, singing songs to registering FIRs, police have resorted to various measures to enforce the lockdown in the state.
Notably, during the early phase of the nationwide lockdown, all major police stations in the state capital showed an hour-long movie to lockdown violators to spread awareness on the subject.
Apart from playing audio messages at important intersections, Ranchi police put up posters in residential areas to educate people on ways to prevent Covid-19 infection. The city cops even visited banks to urge customers to make online transactions.
In other districts like Hazaribag and Dhanbad, cops dressed up like the mythical figure, Yamraj, to make people realise the magnitude of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their stance, however, became tougher when the number of Covid-19 cases started rising in the state. After issuing several appeals to obey the lockdown, police began registering FIRs against the violators.
According to official figures, police have registered 1,474 cases related to lockdown violation across the state, and arrested 3,134 persons. The maximum number of cases has been lodged in Ranchi, where the figure is 281.
Jharkhand police spokesman and inspector Ggneral Saket Singh said, “Police have adopted various methods to ensure that people do not come out unnecessarily. Many cases lodged during the lockdown are related to serious offences.”
Besides, police are also explaining the importance of staying indoors to people found loitering on the streets. In certain cases, they are making violators do sit-ups and undertake written pledges to not break lockdown norms.