Police in Andhra Pradesh are trying yet another new method to deter people from violating lockdown rules in COVID-19 red zones. Those who violate lockdown are now being directly shifted to COVID-19 quarantine centres. On Monday, in Vijayawada’s Krishnalanka area, seven people who violated lockdown and ventured out were shifted to quarantine facilities by the police in an ambulance.
“The quarantine centres are mainly meant for people showing COVID-19 symptoms, or those who have come in contact with COVID-19 positive people. But since people in red zones are continuing to violate lockdown, some of them were sent there for 14 days, to instil fear in people and to implement lockdown strictly,” South Division ACP (Assistant Commissioner of Police) Surya Chandra Rao said.
Krishnalanka area, which had been declared a containment zone in March itself, has seen a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases recently. A truck driver who had recently travelled out of the state tested positive, along with around 25 people in the area he had come in contact with, violating the lockdown. The area is now under complete lockdown, with people allowed to venture out only in case of emergencies, and with prior permission from the police.
The violators are being sent to quarantine facilities in Gudavalli and Gangur, ACP Surya Chandra Rao said. “We have also booked cases for 23 people yesterday, and around 20 people today as well. But we can’t take them to court or keep them in stations now. We have to send them back home by evening. So we are sending some of them to quarantine so that people follow the lockdown rules properly,” he said.
However, given the proximity to individuals who may have contracted the virus or been exposed to the disease at the centres, there is a risk of the lockdown violators contracting the virus at the quarantine facilities, further spreading the coronavirus.
Similar measures were taken by the police in Vinukonda town, of Guntur district’s Narasaraopet division. However, police said that the violators were let go after some time. “We took 4 people to a quarantine centre just to scare them. They were let go after a while,” Vinukonda Sub-Inspector Chinna Mallaiah said.
At #Narsaraopet near #Palnadu road, police are forcing #lockdown violators into an ambulance. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/v3Smw7d6BT
— Rajeswari Parasa (@ParasaRajeswari) April 27, 2020
Guntur (254) and Krishna (223) districts have the second and third highest number of cases in the state so far, after Kurnool (332).
In the recent past, police in the state have not only booked cases on violators, but also used severe intimidation and physical violence in a few cases. Recently, Vijayawada police even made lockdown violators write imposition, apologising for venturing out of their homes.
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