On Day I, nine booked for not wearing mask in public

NAGPUR: MIDC police on Thursday booked nine persons for violating the compulsory use of mask order, issued by the municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe a day earlier.
State home minister Anil Deshmukh also reiterated the decision on Thursday making it compulsory for citizens to wear masks while venturing out of their homes, especially in cities affected by the coronavirus outbreak, including Nagpur.
Sending a stern message to the citizens taking the stay-at-home orders lightly, two units of the city police — MIDC and Hingna — fast tracked cases against violators of the Section 144 and secured conviction in 59 cases in the last two days from the court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) NK Meshram.
While MIDC police secured 22 convictions on Thursday, their Hingna counterparts ensured 12 violators were convicted for disobeying the prohibitory orders. Earlier, 12 persons were convicted under MIDC police jurisdiction on Wednesday, while 13 were found guilty under Hingna police area.
The police had requested the court to fast track the trials in the lockdown violation cases in the national interest.
“We had filed the charge sheets as quickly as possible and convinced the court to conduct the trials immediately as enforcing the lockdown was in the interest of the nation as the violators were endangering lives of others,” said senior inspector Hemant Kharabe of MIDC police station, who had submitted the charge sheets under the guidance of Zonal DCP Vivek Masaal, joint CP RK Kadam and CP BK Upadhayay.
“The court opted to slap fine as punishment, reasonable enough for the violators to pay instead of going to jail by defaulting on it. People felt the pinch while shelling out the fine amounts which were between Rs200 and Rs700,’ said Kharabe.
City police opted to go slow in taking action against the violators for not wearing mask even though state home minister had also tweeted the decision of making it mandatory for citizens to use the protective gear to cover their face apart from collector Ravindra Thakare issuing a notification to the same effect on Thursday.
“Wearing a mask is compulsory now,” said home minister Deshmukh, who is in Mumbai. He also extolled the city police’s feat of securing conviction in 59 cases. “I will seek reports on the convictions,” he said.
City police have also registered offences against 350 persons, including 131 for violating the orders under Section 144, to enforce the national lockdown. The traffic police, under DCP Vikram Sali, have also seized 75 vehicles.
Flying squads of the police, aided by other government agencies, also conducted raids at two medical shops at Mahadula after receiving reports about selling overpriced sanitizers.
Route march by Lakadganj police, under senior inspector Narendra Hiware, also received adulations from the citizens at Wardhaman Nagar where flower petals were showered on the men in khaki.