Crowd violates lockdown norms to welcome Jain monk

New Delhi, May 13, 2020: A large number of people defied the lockdown norms to welcome a Jain monk in Madhya Pradesh, a central Indian state.

Hundreds of people on May 12 came to the road without masks to welcome Muni Pranam Sagar, and his entourage at Banda town, some 35 km from the headquarters of Sagar district.

The video clips of the reception went viral on social media, forcing the police to launch a probe into the incident.

With 3,986 positive cases and 225 fatalities Madhya Pradesh was the sixth worst affected Indian state on May 12.

“This seems to be a case of violation of preventive orders issued under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 144. Directives have been issued to Banda police station officials to register a case after verification of the videos,” Additional Superintendent of Police (Sagar) Praveen Bhuria was quoted by news agency PTI as saying, on May 12.

He added that the police got information about the incident from videos shared on social media and both social distancing norms and orders banning large gatherings (under Section 144), were apparently violated.

Banda police station in-charge Kamal Singh said that they are going to register a case against around 500 unidentified people, for violation of the preventive orders issued during the nationwide lockdown.

India is under lockdown for more than 50 days. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already extended the lockdown twice and heading for a third extension from May 18.