The Lohardaga administration on Wednesday night put in quarantine seven persons who had come from Ranchi, around 75km away, amid the lockdown.

“They have misused a medical pass for transporting persons. An FIR has been lodged against them under Section 188 of IPC (disobeying order promulgated by a public servant),” Lohardaga deputy commissioner (DC) Akanksha Ranjan said on Thursday. “We are strengthening the system of issuing passes and all check posts and police stations of the district have been asked to ensure that lockdown is not violated and passes like this are not misused.”

The applicant had claimed that a patient who had undergone chemotherapy at a private hospital in Ranchi was needed to be taken back to Lohardaga. The administration allowed the movement of the vehicle from Lohardaga to Ranchi and back, for Wednesday and Thursday.

“We came to know after some local residents informed us. It was discovered that emergency medical pass issued by the district administration was misused. All of them were immediately put in quarantine,” said a Lohardaga district administration official who requested anonymity.

The seven include an 18-month-old baby, three men and three women. Five of them are residents of Lohardaga, and two are residents of Ranchi.