In a bid to show that they mean business, police picked up as many as 90 morning walkers from across the steel city for not wearing masks on Wednesday and detained them for over eight hours at a school turned into a temporary jail.

Those detained _ there were several women among them _ were prosecuted under Section 188 of IPC for disobeying an order duly promulgated by the administration. They will have to appear before a magistrate and shell out a fine of Rs 200.

SP (city) Subhash Chandra Jat said they did what they did because residents had been ignoring their appeals for taking precautions for too long.

"During the months of April-May when the lockdown was in force, we had taken such steps and detained morning walkers in police stations as people had come out of their homes in violation of Section 144 CrPC. Now during Unlock-2, we are not stopping anyone from doing their morning walk. All we are saying is that everyone should wear masks," he told The Telegraph Online.

The SP said the police would continue with the drive. He said those who were picked up on Wednesday, were released on a personal recognition bond. “But they would all have to face trial before a judicial magistrate and pay Rs 200 as penalty. If anyone fails to pay up, he/she may be subjected to a jail term of a month,” he explained.

The 90 morning walkers were picked up at 7am from several parts of the steel city, including Jubilee Park, G-Town Ground and Sir Dorabji Park in Bistupur, Aerodrome Area and Kagalnagar in Sonari and Joggers' Park along Kadma-Sonari Link Road in Kadma.

They were taken in SVs and put up at Motilal Nehru Public School (MNPS) in Bistupur that had been converted into a temporary jail. They were let off at 2.30pm.

By then relatives of those held had gathered outside MNPS, demanding their release. "My father is a diabetic and he has to walk for about half-an-hour every morning. But he was neither able to take his routine medication in the morning nor could he attend work from 9.30 am. The police should not punish such people for not wearing a mask," said Amitabh Singh, a resident of Amanat Road in Sakchi.

Like Singh several others were critical of the police action, but all admitted that it was a mistake not to wear masks.

The SP said the drive would continue, and anyone found without a mask would be arrested and put up in a temporary jail like they did on Wednesday.