Home quarantined? Delhi cops got your number

NEW DELHI: An alert from a house in Vasant Kunj informing about the movement of a man who was advised home quarantine helped police track him down and book him for violating the order. Special Cell, which is tracking the numbers, has geo-fenced the locations.
To monitor people on home quarantine, Delhi Police, along with department of telecommunications, has earmarked their geographical locations using their cellphone numbers.Each time a person moves or tries to move out of his/her house, an alert is generated at the police control room, which is then transferred to the nearest PCR van or police station.
In some cases, police found that the person’s home quarantine days were over. To check wastage of time and resources, they have started to update their database by deleting the numbers of those whose quarantine period is over. Now, police are adding the quarantine period against the respective number so that it automatically gets removed.
A senior police officer said, “Special Cell monitors the location each time an alarm is generated. Movement of not more than four metres is allowed. Even if a person lives on the ground floor and goes to the first floor, the alarm is generated. In home quarantine, the person has to contain oneself to a room. The report of people found violating the norm is then submitted to the district police, who tracks each location the person visited and books them.”
On Saturday, a man residing on Church Road, who was supposed to be in home quarantine, was booked for going outside. “The man had returned from New York. He was seen travelling towards the airport and neighbouring areas despite being asked to be in home quarantine. The offence was verified and he was booked. We even call the violators to stay put,” said the officer.