More than 30 motorists were prosecuted for violating Covid protocol between 10pm on Monday and 5am on Tuesday in the city.
The majority of these motorists have claimed that they were returning from parties and apparently did not know that 10pm was their deadline to return home, police said.
According to the latest government notification, motorists or individuals — other than people attached with emergency services — are not allowed to stay outside home between 10pm and 5am as part of Covid protocol in the state.
Thirty one check points have been created across the city by Calcutta police where cops are intercepting vehicles and seeking explanation as to why the motorist is outside his or her home after 10pm. Those who fail to justify their presence on the roads after 10pm are being prosecuted.
The checks are jointly done by officers of police stations and that of the 25 traffic guards.
“There were a few vehicles on the road after 10pm. But after midnight the roads were absolutely empty, maybe because of the cold,” said an officer posted near Behala.
Another officer, who was deployed at a checkpoint on Central Avenue, said people in most of the vehicles he stopped had claimed that they were not aware of the 10pm deadline.
“Some of them said they thought 11pm was the deadline and not 10pm. Some said they were returning from a friend’s house and were only a few minutes away from their own home. But as none of them could cite or prove any emergency, we prosecuted them,” said the officer.
Although the manual prosecution figure was around 30, cops said the actual number of people and vehicles prosecuted on Monday night and early Tuesday morning would be more than this figure.
“We are also depending on the prosecutions done through CCTV cameras as it is manually not possible to cover all intersections. The total number will be much higher,” said an officer.
