NE NEWS SERVICE
SURAT, DEC 26
Beware! Armed with the latest gadgets, tech-savvy Gujarat police are keeping a close vigil on COVID norm violators on social media.
Police have registered an FIR against the organiser of a party on Christmas and two other persons here for allegedly violating the COVID-19 guidelines, officials said on Sunday.
The action was taken after police came across a video which purportedly showed several men, women and children swaying to music at a DJ party organised at an open space in Umra locality of the city on Saturday night, they said.
“The organisers had sought permission from authorities to hold an exhibition, which was granted. But, they were found violating the COVID-19 guidelines pertaining to social distancing and other norms. After the video came to the notice of the Umra police, an FIR was registered against three persons, including the event organiser,” an official from Umra police station said.
The case was registered against the event organiser, Vipul Joshi, and two others under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, and provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, the official said.
Further investigation was underway on the basis of the video, he said.
Surat city has so far reported two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Amid the Omicron concern and increase in daily new coronavirus cases, the Gujarat government had extended the duration of night curfew in eight cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Gandhinagar – by two hours from Saturday.
The curfew would be in force from 11 pm to 5 am instead of 1 am to 5 am, a notification issued by the state home department had said.
