The Coimbatore City and District Police on Friday booked several motorists on charges of violating the COVID-19 lockdown rules and warned them against travelling unnecessarily.
Sources said the Coimbatore City Police registered nearly 1,100 cases and the Coimbatore District Police nearly 500 cases under section 179 (Whoever wilfully disobeys any direction lawfully given by any person or authority empowered under this Act) of the Motor Vehicles Act as of noon on Friday. No vehicles were seized on Friday, the sources added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) G. Stalin visited Cross Cut Road in Gandhipuram here and appealed to the motorists to not venture out unnecessarily amidst the second wave of the pandemic. “The vehicle movement has been curtailed [on Friday] in comparison to other days,” he said, adding that awareness among the public was essential to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Around 1,000 police personnel and 48 check-posts had been set up in the city police limits to monitor the compliance to lockdown rules, Mr. Stalin noted.
District Superintendent of Police S. Selvanagarathinam said areas on the borders of the city such as Thudiyalur and Kavundampalayam continued to witness increased vehicle movement despite the lockdown. “We have closed many roads and will allow vehicles only in cases of emergency,” he said.
