Coronavirus: Guj mob flouts Janta curfew to pay tribute,

A mob of 40 people was booked in Khadia in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city for gathering at 5pm on Sunday to pay tribute to frontline staff in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

A video of people chanting slogans, dancing and clanging utensils during Janta curfew, which incidentally was called as a social distancing measure, had gone viral after which a police case was registered, an official said.

Police commissioner Ashish Bhatia said an FIR was lodged against 40 persons at Khadia police station under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) and section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

"As long as lockdown continues, people should not come out of their homes, and if they do, they should not number more than four in a group. Three FIR have also been registered against people who returned from abroad and were found flouting quarantine rules," he said.

The FIRs were lodged in Ghatlodia, Maninagar and Odhav, he added.

Police are surveying homes to ensure no one is breaking the 14-day mandatory isolation rule, he added.