Several Calcuttans on Wednesday organised Annapurna Puja attracting public gathering in pockets of the city, following which chief minister Mamata Banerjee urged people to restrict their pujas inside their homes.

“Annapurna Pujo ache, hobe. Kintu bari-tei korun (Today is Annapurna Puja and it will be celebrated. But please do it at your home),” she said after reports of people celebrating in public emerged.

Police said several pujas were organised inside homes on Wednesday but some were opened to public and prasad was distributed in violation of the lockdown norms.

There were allegations that some of the traditional pujas across the city attracted crowds before the police intervened to disperse the gatherings. In at least one of the places, cops had to close the entrance to a building where the puja had been organised to stop people from entering.

Some of the organisers said they had followed the social distancing rule. The police, though, said it was best to avoid any gathering that could be a potential trigger for the spread of the coronavirus.

An official at Nabanna said the government would not allow any form of gathering — religious or otherwise — that could become a potential hotspot for the spread of the virus. “We are not in a position to take any more chances,” the official said.

Senior officers at Lalbazar said the police acted on every complaint of public gathering and sent teams to check the veracity of each.

“We understand the sentiments around puja or any other religious occasion. But this is not the time for emotions,” an officer said. “We are in a war-like situation where only saving lives will matter, nothing else.”

More than a week into the lockdown, people are still stepping out of their homes for no apparent reason. The police on Wednesday arrested 48 people for violating the lockdown norms. The maximum number of violators was from the central division, while no cases were reported from the north division.