Goa police may take violators of curfew into custody

PANAJI: With the state under the lockdown due to coronavirus, Goa police has stated that non-cooperation by members of the general public would be tantamount to defying the statutory orders and pave way for the custody of the violators.
On Tuesday, the police issued an advisory to the public alerting them of consequences against the breaking of the curfew.
Police asked the citizens to remain indoors.They said that if any member of the public was seen outdoors, he would be stopped, questioned and asked to go back.
“Non-cooperation can lead to custody and the person concerned will be booked under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (violation of order promulgated by government), section 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), section 271 (knowingly disobeying any quarantine rule) and section 269 (negligently doing act known to be likely to spread infection of any diseases dangerous to life),’’ police said.
Police have intensified patrolling to avoid any untoward incident in the state. Additional police force has been deployed at borders to stop entry of vehicles, except those registered in Goa.
Earlier, Goa police had appealed to the priests of all religious institutions to advise their followers to pray from home as a precautionary measure.
Goa police said pandemic diseases do not restrict themselves to territorial borders, castes, religions and communities and hence precautions needed to be taken.
The janata Curfew announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday was a widespread success. The state government extended it till March 25. However, on Tuesday, a total lockdown was announced by the central government.