Calcutta police commissioner Anuj Sharma has instructed his officers to “strictly” enforce the lockdown, forced by the novel coronavirus, across Calcutta.
“The top cop posted a message on an official WhatsApp group of Calcutta police on Thursday evening, telling officers he wants the lockdown to be 'implemented strictly’ and that there are reports of widespread violation across the city,” an officer said.
The message was followed by a meeting of senior police officers at Lalbazar, which all divisional deputy commissioners were asked to attend.
Insiders said the meeting discussed, among many things, how to enforce the lockdown more strictly across all containment zones in the city that have been reporting fresh Covid-19 cases over the past two weeks.
“Several measures are being drawn up. Vehicles on the roads will be checked more intensely to find out whether the passengers had stepped out for valid reasons or not. Social distancing norms, too, will be enforced more vigorously, especially in places of congregation,” said a senior police officer.
Senior officers have been instructed to ensure that officers on the roads scan vehicles “more vigorously” and look for valid passes.
“We can’t spell out everything. Some of the markets may be relocated,” another officer said.
Police commissioner Sharma’s message on the WhatsApp group came hours after chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said Calcutta alone accounted for “not less than 80 per cent” of the 58 new cases reported in the state overnight.
A section of senior officers said efforts had been launched to identify new locations where markets could be shifted so that social distancing norms could be implemented.
A few markets have already been shifted, including the ones in Bagmari and Narkeldanga.
More cops will be deployed in the markets that cannot be relocated — such as the ones in Gariahat, Kasba, Kalikapur, Garfa and Beleghata and Jadu Babur Bazaar in Bhowanipore — for stricter enforcement of the norm.
“There is a market on Syed Ahmed Road in the Entally area. We will shift it elsewhere,” said a senior officer. “Similarly, we might try and shift the market in Panditya to another location.”
Police officers admitted that markets were drawing huge crowds in the morning and again in the evening, making it difficult for them to implement social distancing norms.