129 JAILED FOR VIOLATING ‘JANATA CURFEW’ AMID COVID RISE IN MP

At least 129 people were jailed for a few hours for allegedly roaming around in public places in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city on Wednesday, to inculcate Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, an official said.

People were brought in from different areas of the city to a temporary jail under section 151 (precautionary arrests made to prevent cognisable offences) of the Code of Criminal Procedure superintendent of the Central Jail, Rakesh Kumar Bhangera told PTI. The violators were roaming in public places without any reason, he said.

A temporary jail has been set up at a community guesthouse in Snehlataganj area of Indore and has a capacity to take in 300 inmates, he said.

Inmates of the temporary jail are released within three hours of admission, the official said.

Before being admitted in the temporary facility, violators were asked to give a bond that they will follow all the Covid-19 guidelines, he said.

Indore is the worst-affected district in the pandemic in the state, where the administration has imposed a “janata curfew” till April 30 as a measure to contain the viral spread. Under this, citizens have been asked to leave their homes only if it is urgent. At least 15 personnel have been deployed in the temporary jail and CCTV cameras are also installed, the official said.