Lockdown in Maha: 3,000 cases registered for violation of

The Maharashtra police has registered around 3,000 offences ever since curfew was imposed in the state to contain the coronavirus outbreak in the state three days ago, a senior official said on Thursday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray invoked section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit large gatherings and movement on roads on March 23, a day before nation-wide lockdown was announced.

Maharashtra has recorded 125 COVID-19 cases so far, the highest in the country.

The police are taking action against those who venture out of homes unnecessarily.

Cases are also being registered for spreading false information about the pandemic on social media, and for hoarding of essential commodities, the official said.

As many as 2,982 offences under section 144 of the CrPC and section 188 (disobeying government order) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005, were registeredin the last four days, he said.

Of these, 417 were registered in Nagpur, 379 in Ahmednagar and 334 in Pune city.

At least 112 offences were registered in Nashik city, 107 in Osmanabad, 184 in Palghar, 93 in Thane city and 113 in Thane Rural, the official said, adding that 141 cases under section 188 were registered in Mumbai till Wednesday night.