79 booked for organising mass reception amid corona scare

Amid panic over the spread of coronavirus in Kerala, the police on Monday arrested 79 people for organising a mass reception for a popular reality show contestant on his arrival at the Cochin International Airport.

Violating the government’s direction to avoid large gatherings in view of the coronavirus threat, the contestant and his supporters allegedly created chaos at the airport on Sunday, the police said.

The Nedumbassery police on Monday charged them under IPC Sections 143, 147, 149, 188 and 283, which broadly deals with unlawful assembly, rioting, disobeying orders of a public servant and causing obstruction to public way and thereby causing danger for the general public.

Police also alleged they violated a High Court ruling that there should be no procession around 500 metres from the airport.

Ernakulam Collector S Suhas slammed the behaviour of the crowd at the airport premises at a time when all sections of the society were on high alert over the spread
of the l coronavirus.

Two people, including a UK national, tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala on Sunday, taking the total number of affected to 21 in the state as the government launched a “break the chain” initiative to prevent the spread of the virus.