The Mumbai Police on Tuesday night issued a tweet warning action against non-essential vehicular movement, leaving several netizens with the question of whether the novel coronavirus-induced lockdown was still in force or the unlock phase was on.
On their official Twitter handle, the Mumbai Police warned that strict legal action would be taken against people who step out for non-essential purposes.
“Strict legal action will be taken and vehicles will be seized if any non-permitted & non-essential vehicular movement is noticed. This is not just against the rules, but also not in favour of your own safety, at this crucial moment in Mumbai’s fight against #COVID19,” the tweet read. The message was criticised by many people on social media, with some Twitter users asking the police to classify what is essential and non-essential movement. People also asked the police if the COVID-19-induced lockdown was still in force.
“Both the government and cops are confused about what to follow and ignore. It’s a complete failure of communication and expected considering the level of mismanagement which happens,” a Twitter user said.
While another user said, “Why so confused about everything @MumbaiPolice or is it the social media team/agency goofed up on copy paste of content or is it the fact that you seriously need help achieving targets with fines!”
This is the second time since the start of the lockdown that the Mumbai Police have faced criticism over their instructions about vehicular movement.
Earlier, it faced the ire of netizens for their directive, under the State government’s ‘Mission Begin Again’ initiative, restricting the movement of people within a two-km radius of their homes.