Gujarat Police on Thursday, 6 May, arrested 46 people for flouting lockdown norms. The development came a day after a crowd of over 100 men and women took out a religious processing at a village in Gandhinagar district to ‘eradicate COVID’, as per officials.
The procession was taken out on Wednesday under the belief that pouring water on the local temple deity would cure the pandemic.
Deputy Superintendent of Police MK Rana told PTI, noting, “After being alerted about the incident, we arrested 46 men involved in the procession.”
The video footage, which shows the large congregation moving without wearing masks, with the women holding pots on their heads, and the men leading the procession beating the drums has gone viral on social media.
They were charged under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act for violation of police notification regarding gathers, as per the report.
Gujarat reported 12,955 new COVID cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 6,33,427. There were 133 people who deceased, pushing the death count to 7912 people in the state as per Union Health Ministry data.
The state government last week laid down guidelines directing all religious places to remain shut. Additionally, night curfew is in effect in the wake of the deteriorating pandemic situation in several areas across the state.
Not an Isolated Incident
This was the second such incident this week. A crowd of women devotees gathered at Navapura village in Ahmedabad’s Sanand district, flouting COVID-19 norms in large numbers, to offer prayers at the Baliyadev temple on Tuesday, 4 May.
The women were seeking to ‘eradicate’ COVID through the religious congregation, news agency PTI reported.
Senior police officer of Ahmedabad Rural district, KT Kamaria, has since said that action was taken against 23 people who participated in the procession, including the sarpanch (head) of the village.
"As soon as we came to know about the incident, we rushed to the place. We have filed complaints in both Navapura and Nidhrada. We have arrested the Navapura Sarpanch, the DJ and the event organiser in Navapura. We appeal to the people to follow COVID protocols and cooperate with the administration in fighting the virus," said Kamaria, according to IANS.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation cancelled its 5 April order stating that residents of the city who go to other states for work don’t need to undergo RT-PCR tests on their return, instead implementing an order dated 27 March.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)