Defence personnel asked to not carry out policing in Bagalkot

BAGALKOT: Some Indian Army personnel, and also those who have retired, have taken to policing to ensure that the lockdown is properly enforced in some villages in Bagalkot district.
A soldier, who had come to his village in Terdal taluk in Bagalkot district, had tried to ensure that people stay indoors during the lockdown, recently. In uniform, he stood at a corner in his village and punished some villagers who violated the lockdown by venturing out of their houses by making them do sit-ups.This incident angered villagers. The video of this incident went viral on social media, prompting the police to take the issue seriously, to avoid such incidents in the future.
Police officers, under the guidance of the Bagalkot superintendent of police, visited villages in the district, and asked Army personnel, and ex-servicemen not to interfere in the police department’s work and to not carry out policing.
Bagalkot superintendent of police Lokesh Jagalasar said, “When these incidents came to our notice, we immediately visited all the villages in Terdal and other taluks in the district, and asked the defence personnel who are on vacation, to stop carrying out policing.”
He said apart from the incident in Terdal taluk, in some villages, ex-servicemen and soldiers on holidays have started moving around by wielding lathis and started meting out punishment to villagers for violating the lockdown.