Baran Congress MLA Atru Panachand Meghwal holds social event without mask, fined

KOTA: Baran Congress MLA Atru Panachand Meghwal and 16 others have been fined for not wearing masks while unveiling a statue of Maharana Pratap in the presence of a huge gathering at Pratap Chowk in the city on Saturday evening. None of them were wearing a mask during the pubic event which saw a large gathering.
Eight others were fined for violating social distancing norms at the event, taking the total number of those challaned to 25. No permission was sought for the event which was organised by Baran municipality. However, after the videos of the event went viral, additional district magistrate (ADM) started a probe into the matter.
In the presence of hundreds of local party workers, Meghawal along with Baran municipality board chairman Kamal Rathore unveiled the statue.
The MLA, officials of the municipality board were seen along with a large number of people without masks. People from surrounding houses too had joined the crowd.
The local police took no steps to ensure safe distance between attendees or took action against those who violated norms.
“I don’t have any knowledge if permission was taken to hold the event. But certainly a large number of people gathered at Pratap Chowk. It is a busy market and people were already present at shops,” Ramkishan Verma , circle officer in-charge, Baran city police station, said.
He said at least 17 persons, including Meghwal and chairman of municipality board, were slapped with challans for not wearing masks.
“We have strict restrictions on granting permission for such events in the district,” ADM Mohammad Abu Bakr said and added that he would inquire into the matter on Monday.
“The event was politically motivated and was organised without seeking prior permission,” a district official said. Repeated attempts to contact Meghwal for his comments failed.
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