14 held in Gujarat for birthday celebrations during night curfew

RAJKOT: Police have arrested 14 people from two birthday parties organised in Rajkot during the night curfew imposed to check the spread of COVID-19, an official said on Sunday.

Videos of the two events held here in Gujarat on Saturday night also surfaced on social media platforms.

According to a senior official, the birthday party of a policeman's son was organised at the police headquarters where firecrackers were also burst.

"Officials patrolling in a police control room van noticed fireworks at the police headquarters.

They reached the spot and found four persons celebrating the birthday.

All the four accused were arrested," the police official said.

In another incident, members of an NGO participated in a birthday celebration in the premises of a high school around midnight.

After some videos of the event were shared on a social media platform, the police registered a case against 11 members of the NGO and arrested 10 of them, the official said.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant), 269 (negligent act that could cause spread of the disease dangerous to life) and other provisions, he said.

In the wake of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in Gujarat, the state government has imposed a curfew from 8 pm to 6 am in 20 cities till April 30.

On Saturday, Gujarat's COVID-19 tally reached 4,81,737 with 14,097 new cases, the highest single-day rise so far.

The state also reported its highest single-day death count of 152, taking the total number of fatalities to 6,171, as per the health department.