Jamshedpur, May 18: City police on Tuesday launched a crackdown on commuters moving without e-passes amid the lockdown. Several violators moving on the plea of corona tests were nabbed.
People moving in vehicles – cars, bikes and scooters – were stopped at various check-points in Sakchi, Bistupur, Jugsalai, Sonari and Kadma and were asked to produce e-passes. Unable to produce e-passes, people ended up paying a fine of Rs 500.
Notably, in a recent order by the State Department of Home, Jail and Disaster Management, residents of the state will have to procure e-passes to go out of their homes to buy essential commodities till May 27. The passes will be valid for three hours from the issuing time.
The police also launched a drive to nab morning walkers. Around 80 of them were rounded up from Bistupur and Kadma-Sonari Link Road .
Police asked the morning walkers to board a bus which later brought them to the campus of Motilal Nehru Public School in Bistupur. All of them were later released after warning and signing of PR ( Personal Recognizance ) bond.
Naresh Paswan , a sub-inspector of Bistupur police station said the drive was launched early in the morning. ” We have been warning commuters but today took action against them. The lockdown was imposed for breaking the Covid chain. If people come out of their homes without valid reasons or without an urgency the purpose of lockdown is defeated, ” he said.
The Jharkhand government on Sunday imposed restrictions on the movement of vehicles and people within the state to stop the chain of Covid-19 transmission and issued e-passes for people who need to travel for emergency purposes.
On the first day of the curbs which will continue till May 27, the government’s online portal that issues the e-passes crashed owing to heavy traffic.
“People have started taking Covid lightly with cases coming down but recent spurt has brought us on toes and we do not want to take any risk. Some might think they can keep the viral infection at bay even without a mask, but that is wrong. They should be made aware of the guidelines during the pandemic,” said an official. He said that those found without masks are taken into task.
