8 arrested for playing cricket during Janata curfew near Mumbai

Eight men were arrested at Kalyan in Thane district near Mumbai on Sunday as they were found playing cricket during the Janata curfew being observed to check the spread of coronavirus, police said.

They were playing cricket at Kala Talao Maidan in the afternoon, police said. Police also detained a boy in this connection, an official said.

“Action was taken against them for defying the prohibitory orders issued by the Thane Police Commissionerate. They also went against the Janata curfew being observed to curb the spread of coronavirus,” the police official said.

The Mahatma Phule Chowk Police Station registered an offence against the accused under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 290 (public nuisance). They were also booked under the Maharashtra Police Act as well as the National Disaster Act 2005, the official said.

Related news: Section 144 in Delhi, Maharashtra, Bengaluru; Janata curfew extended in TN, UP

In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Janata curfew and clap appeal, lakhs of Mumbaikars stayed at home and at around 5 pm, stood in balconies, windows and on terraces of their houses and clapped their hands, banged plates and pans to salute those participating the war against coronavirus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on Thursday, had appealed people to observe Janta curfew from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday to avoid the spread of the coronavirus infection. Modi had urged people to express their gratitude to doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other personnel, by clapping their hands or banging utensils like plates and pans from their houses.

Six people were also booked under the Disaster Management Act in Latur in Maharashtra for holding a marriage ceremony despite social distancing rules in force in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, police said on Sunday.

The function took place in the premises of the municipal corporation in Signal Camp area here on Saturday and those booked comprise four from the bride and groom’s family, the priest and the hall owner, a Shivaji Nagar police station official said. The complaint was lodged by the local municipal area officer, he added.