An uneasy calm prevailed over the Fort Town on Monday as police personnel literally took control of the streets and cordoned off sensitive areas.
Earlier in the day, when a young woman, who was carrying an infant, and some others gathered outside their home at Jonnagoddi, the policemen reportedly mistook their intentions and fired tear gas shells. The fumes reportedly spread all over, even into the huts in the colony. A six-month-old baby fell sick after inhaling the fumes and was taken to a private nursing home.
Later in the evening, a lady police officer went into a narrow lane and played spoilsport as some family members were playing carom. An elderly man and some children were engrossed in the game when the young police officer alighted from her vehicle on the main road some distance away. She walked down the narrow lane with some policemen in tow.
The man tried to explain to her that there was no power in the house forcing them to play on the street. The policewoman became furious for ‘defying the curfew’. She directed her men to take the ‘players’ into custody. An elderly man intervened and saved the situation.
District Collector Kantilal Dande announced that curfew would be relaxed from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. in One Town area and from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. in Two Town area.