A team of police personnel and district officials were attacked by locals in Meerut’s Jali Kothi when they reached there to seal a part of the area following a confirmation about presence of coronavirus patients in a mosque in the area. The agitated crowd was subsequently pacified and the entire area was cordoned off.
Police & the city magistrate of Meerut reached Delhi Gate area to seal it after some people from Maharashtra, who were staying at a mosque here, tested #COVID19 positive today morning. However, some locals opposed the sealing process & a scuffle broke out: Meerut SSP Ajay Sahni pic.twitter.com/GeA8wY6vrR
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 11, 2020
The Meerut police have made four arrests in this regard, including the Imam of the mosque where the coronavirus patients were sheltered. As per the police, action will be taken against the four accused under the National Security Act. A phalanx of policemen including DM Anil Dhingra and SSP Ajay Sahni were present on the spot when the mob went on a rampage against the police personnel who had come to seal the area. City magistrate Sushant Jain sustained a fracture in his hand during the sparring between the sides. He was sent to the district hospital for treatment.
While the police force and healthcare workers are going out of their way to stop the spread of highly contagious coronavirus, some of the folks are bent on sabotaging the district administration’s efforts of taming the contagion. Late last night, 4 coronavirus positive patients were found, three of whom were staying in Meerut’s Dari mosque in Jail Kothi.
Therefore, the administration had decided to seal off the area to limit the spread of the virus. On Saturday morning, the police administration and Health Department team reached Jali Kothi to cordon off the neighbourhood. However, they met with stiff resistance from the people, who attacked the police personnel who had gathered there to contain the possible spread of coronavirus to other parts of the city.
According to the reports, the brawl broke out when locals started pushing and shoving the police officers in the presence of Circle Officer. Subsequently, police officials from four police stations were summoned to control the exacerbating quagmire. However, the situation was brought under control and the entire area of Jali Kothi was completely sealed off. In view of the seriousness of the case, a large number of police personnel are deployed at the place to avoid any untoward incident. A flag march had been carried out in the area by the police. After touring the area, all the people have been warned against venturing out of their houses and the area has been completely fenced off.
