Mumbai: Mumbai Police registered 713 cases of lockdown violations on Wednesday, taking the total number of offences registered since April 5 to 20,626. With the restrictions relaxed for a few sectors in the city, a number of people, who do not fall in the permitted category, ventured out, only to get caught by police and booked. In these 713 cases, police booked 860 people, of which six are yet to be arrested. Police have booked all these accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for disobedience of orders promulgated by a public servant (section 188).
According to the figures released by the Mumbai Police, on Wednesday, they booked 186 shop establishment owners for not abiding by the lockdown guidelines and keeping the shops open beyond the 7-11 am time slot given to them. Police also registered 220 cases against those found loitering in public places without a valid reason, 190 offences for not wearing a mask and 56 for gathering in public places.
On Wednesday, police booked 18 hotels establishments for operating despite lockdown and 12 cases were registered against betel nut shop owners. Police also registered 13 offences of illegal vehicular movement, two against those violating the quarantine norms and 16 cases were registered against hawkers, said S Chaitanya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations).
Police added that most violations were recorded in the central region of the city with 157 offences. Of the 860 booked under section 188 on Wednesday, six were yet to be arrested, while 397 were released on bail and 457 were issued notices under CrPC. Mumbai Police also seized 95 vehicles and booked the motorists for venturing out without a valid reason.
As on Thursday, Mumbai Police had recorded 8,898 cases of COVID-19 among their force, of which 103 were active cases. Mumbai Police had lost 119 of its personnel due to the COVID pandemic.