Coronavirus Pandemic: FIR Filed Against 40 People In Ahmedabad For Violating Janata Curfew To Pay Tribute

A video of people chanting slogans, dancing and clanging utensils during Janta curfew, which incidentally was called as a social distancing measure, had gone viral after which a police case was registered, an official said.

People play musical instruements and clap from their balcony to thank essential service providersduring a one-day Janata (civil) curfew. (Photo by Ritesh Shukla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

New Delhi: An FIR has been filed against 40 people from Khadia area who had gathered outside their house  at 5 pm on 22 March as Section 144 of CrPC is imposed in Ahmedabad,  Police Commissioner Ashish Bhatia said. The mob was paying tribute to frontline staff in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak. This comes after the state governments on Monday were asked to strictly enforce lockdown and take legal action will be taken against violators. A video of people chanting slogans, dancing and clanging utensils during Janta curfew, which incidentally was called as a social distancing measure, had gone viral after which a police case was registered, an official said. Police commissioner Ashish Bhatia said an FIR was lodged against 40 persons at Khadia police station under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) and section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. "As long as lockdown continues, people should not come out of their homes, and if they do, they should not number more than four in a group. Three FIR have also been registered against people who returned from abroad and were found flouting quarantine rules," he said. Watch Video: Hundreds take out rally on Janata Curfew success, waste efforts to combat coronavirus The FIRs were lodged in Ghatlodia, Maninagar and Odhav, he added. Police are surveying homes to ensure no one is breaking the 14-day mandatory isolation rule, he added. Meanwhile,  eleven new coronavirus cases have been reported in Gujarat, taking the total number of those infected by the deadly virus in the state to 29, the state health department said on Monday. Among the new patients, five are males and six females. Of these, five cases are of local transmission and six patients have a history of recent visits to countries like Saudi Arabia, France, Sri Lankaand the UK, it said. With this, Ahmedabad now has total 13 cases, Vadodara-six, Surat and Gandhinagar-four each, and Kutch and Rajkot-one each, the health department said. So far, one coronavirus patient has died in the state. (With inputs from PTI)