Assam Lockdown: Police Pelted with Stones in Bongaigaon, Resorts to Blank Firing

Bongaigaon, March 28, 2020:

Assam Police On Saturday morning resorted to blank firing on Saturday morning in order to disperse an unruly crowd amid lockdown in New Bongaigaon area.

According to reports, the Bongaigaon Police, while ensuring that no one ventures out in the open in groups, had to blank fire to quell the crowd at Bhawlaguri market near New Bongaigaon Railway Junction.

It may be mentioned here that Saturday morning witnessed people coming out in huge numbers to purchase the essential items. They were seen defying the rules of gathering in groups with no social distance amid rising coronavirus concerns.

A video of the incident has surfaced, wherein some teenage boys were pelting stones at the Assam Police team, which had arrived at the spot to take stock of the situation. In retaliation, the Bongaigaon Police fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

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One who recorded the video could be heard saying, "Lockdown doesn't mean that we can't feed ourselves." Anther local, whom the Police caught said, "They beat me for no reason."

It may be mentioned here that the nationwide lockdown of 21 days following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic will end on April 14. Till then, the authorities have strictly asked the people to limit themselves to their homes. However, a few of them were seen violating the lockdown rules set by the Government.

Dibrugarh police on Friday arrested three persons for violating lockdown restrictions and forwarded them to judicial custody. They were caught while riding their motorcycles. In all, four cases have been registered in this regard.

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Earlier, Dibrugarh Police had arrested an individual from the Upper Assam town’s Rajgarh area. The authorities have also seized a motorcycle, bearing registration number AS 06 D 3271. The apprehendee was reportedly arrested for performing ‘stunts’ on the road.

The Government has imposed heavy penalty for breaking the rules of the lockdown, which is considered an absolute necessity as the corona continues its rampant spread to all the corners of the globe -- Six months of imprisonment in the first violation case and two years of imprisonment in the second case.

It may be mentioned here that Assam State Government had imposed a 5-day lockdown initially due to the coronavirus. However, the central Government imposed a 21-day strict lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of the virus in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the public to refrain from roaming outside as they would be at risk of getting infected.

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The Government had decided to shun all operations barring essential activities. Additionally, the authorities had informed that disregarding the stringent laws could land one in prison for 6 months (during initial arrest) and 2 years (for a second violation).

Section 270 in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will come into effect in this case. It states, “Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease danger­ous to life —Whoever malignantly does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”

During the lockdown, grocery, pharmacies and petrol pumps will be functional. Except these, all shops and services, educational institutions be it private or public will remain closed. Emergency services like medical, financial, fire brigade, electricity will also remain open for the public.

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