Kolkata: Several were detained for breaking the lockdown protocols on day one of the lockdown in West Bengal as the Kolkata police were seen patrolling at the streets at Howrah Bridge.
According to police sources, post 10 am shops have been ordered to remain shut (as per the time fixed by the West Bengal government), however several shops in both North and South Kolkata were kept open for which initially police had to resort to lathi-charge to close the shop and disperse the crowd.
In greater Kolkata, at several places, sweet-meat shops were seen open even before the scheduled timings and police were seen forcibly pulling down the shutters as people since morning started assembling in front of the shops.
“The complete lockdown is imposed to curb the pandemic but people are still casual in their dealings. Though they are wearing masks, unnecessary congregations are something that cannot be avoided at several places in Kolkata and adjoining areas. Markets from Gariahat to Maniktala were opened post the scheduled timing for which they were closed forcibly,” said sources at Lalbazar (Kolkata Police Headquarter).
At Howrah Bridge, police were seen noting down the numbers of the cars and the passengers were asked to give valid reasons for stepping outside, failing which the passengers were either sent back home or were being fined.
“Since morning several people citing the emergency crisis entered Kolkata from Howrah but they neither had prescriptions or details of the emergency. In order to curb this menace we have started naka-checking,” said a police officer at Howrah Bridge.
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