This story is from June 2, 2020

288 lockdown violators plead guilty, fined by magistrate

288 lockdown violators plead guilty, fined by magistrate
Nagpur: Judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Hingna, NK Meshram has convicted 288 persons for violating various rules of the lockdown imposed to break the Covid-19 chain. The violations included not wearing masks.
Senior police officials said these convictions in lockdown related cases are likely to be the highest in Maharashtra. Different amounts of fines were imposed and recovered at the court.

MIDC police secured 146 convictions while their Hingna counterparts, both under Zonal DCP Vivek Masaal, got 142 in the last couple of months. MIDC police were also the among the first, along with their Tehsil counterparts, to register offence for not wearing masks.
MIDC police station also has the highest cases in the city at 374, till Sunday. City police have already registered more than 2,650 cases for violation of lockdown norms. Around 3,075 vehicles were seized too.
Zonal DCP Masaal said instructions were issued to all police stations under him to send the charge sheet of the lockdown violation cases to court, so that there could be immediate punishment, as a deterrent. “Two police stations of MIDC and Hingna were luckier as their magistrate courts were functional during the lockdown. The concerned magistrate too had the same opinion that the persons breaching lockdown norms should be penalized as it concerned the health of the masses in a pandemic situation,” he said. Masaal attributed the achievement to CP BK Upadhyay.

Senior inspector Hemant Kharabe of MIDC police station said most cases were under section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for violating the order issued by the joint commissioner of police under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to enforce lockdown. “We had also invoked the relevant IPC sections of 269, 270 for indulging in actions which may spread infection. Also, relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, and The Disaster Management Act 2005 were also the ones invoked,” he said.
Senior inspector Sarin Durge of Hingna police station said the spot panchanama, FIR copy, relevant orders of the Joint CP and the collector were the documents sent to court as evidence. “Though imprisonment is also mentioned as punishment, the accused were fined after they admitted the offence and the court pronounced them guilty,” he said.
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