Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police J.K. Tripathy on Thursday warned of stringent action against any person violating the prohibitory orders issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The second day of prohibitory orders were incident free and people were by and large co-operating with the law enforcing agencies by remaining indoors. Police were instructed to initiate firm legal action against those found to be deliberately violating the restrictions by coming out of home without valid reasons. Such offence was punishable with imprisonment, Mr. Tripathy told The Hindu .
Senior police officials were monitoring the security arrangements and keeping a close watch on vital establishments across the State. Asked about allegations that police were using lathis or abusive language in some places to chase away people seen on the roads, the DGP said videos of certain incidents reported in other States were being circulated in the social media. In Tamil Nadu, clear instructions were given to police officials to ensure that no force was used against the public.
“We have told the police to enforce the rule of law and not to use any force against the public. There is no need for that…people are aware of the risks of coming out in the current scenario. The prohibitory orders were issued to curb the spread of coronavirus and at the same time uninterrupted supply of essential commodities has been ensured. Appropriate action is being taken where police high-handedness was alleged,” he said.
Police would make enquiries with people found moving outside their residence. If the reasons given for coming out of home were reasonable and justified they would be allowed to go. “Police have been sensitised to the exemptions given to those in essential services. I appeal to the people to cooperate with the government in its efforts to control the deadly virus from spreading,” he said.
Online passes
In Chennai city, Commissioner of Police A.K. Viswanathan reviewed the security arrangements with Additional Commissioners of Police Prem Anand Sinha (South) and Dhinakaran (North) on Thursday where decisions were taken to issue passes to people who are either authorised to travel by virtue of their service or due to any exigency. “Joint Commissioners of Police and Deputy Commissioners of Police have been authorised to issue temporary passes to those apply with valid reasons and documents. We are trying to issue the passes online to minimise the time. There is no bar on people going to pharmacies or grocery store in their locality for purchasing essential commodities. All the field level personnel have been told not to engage into any argument with the people but instead take action as per law,” a senior police official said.
