Police challan 7.40 lakh people in UP for not wearing masks

PRAYAGRAJ: Police took action against over 7.40 lakh people who were found not wearing masks and realized Rs 7.92 crore in the form of fine from them till July 5.
As per statistics revealed by UP police, the highest number of challans (169,308) against the violators were issued in the Lucknow zone followed by Kanpur zone (99,485), Varanasi zone (85,468), Bareilly zone (85,025) and Meerut zone (76,542).
In GB Nagar commissionerate, the number of challans issued by the police was 9647 which was the lowest.
Similarly, in Lucknow zone, police realized the highest amount (Rs 1.69 crore) followed by Meerut zone (Rs 1.01 crore), Bareilly zone (Rs 99 lakh), Kanpur zone (Rs 97.55 lakh) and Gorakhpur zone (Rs 86.75 lakh).
The state has eight zones--Meerut, Agra, Bareilly, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur and Varanasi and two commissionerates--Lucknow and GB Nagar.
The data revealed that a total of 20,847 people were challaned in the Lucknow district under Lucknow commissionerate and a fine of Rs 20.85 lakh was realised from them.
Similarly, police had challaned as many as 54,632 people in Agra zone for not wearing masks and realized a fine of Rs 61.60 lakh from them while 65,857 people were challaned in Prayagraj zone and Rs 68.72 lakhs was realized from them.
In Gorakhpur zone, police challaned 3,697 people and realised Rs 86.75 lakhs, 85,468 people were challaned in Varanasi zone and a fine of Rs 76.87 lakhs realized.
IG KP Singh told TOI, "Over 36,000 people have been challaned in Prayagraj range which comprises Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Pratapgarh and Fatehpur districts and realised around Rs 37 lakh from them. The highest number of challans were issued in Prayagraj followed by Fatehpur, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh, he added.
Police have been taking up the drive against people spotted not wearing masks at every nook and corner of the four districts of the range and penalised the violators on the spot, the IG claimed.