At least 178 people were prosecuted for violating Covid night curfew norms and over 1,200 motorists were prosecuted for breaking traffic rules or driving under the influence of alcohol in different parts of Salt Lake and places along VIP Road and New Town in east Kolkata on Saturday night.
Cops have also started a drive to check rash driving particularly at night and during early morning in the wake of chief minister Mamata Banerjee asking officials from Bidhannagar commissionerate and Kolkata police why so many accidents were taking place at Chingrighata.
The drive was carried out between 10.30pm on Saturday and 2am on Sunday.
According to an officer of Bidhannagar commissionerate, most violations of the night curfew in place till Saturday night happened in Sector V, at the EM Bypass and Broadway intersection near the Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex and various spots in New Town including the Kolkata Gate Crossing near Rabindra Tirtha.
Another officer said that most who were caught violating the curfew claimed that they were either going home after attending a wedding, after dinner at a restaurant or had stepped out to buy medicines.
“Most people claimed to have stepped out to buy medicines or were going home after attending a wedding. We prosecute those who could not produce any prescriptions,” said the officer.
The police also checked motorists and two-wheeler riders for their blood alcohol content and prosecuted more than 50 persons for driving under the influence of alcohol.
“We measured the blood content using breathalysers and those who failed the test were prosecuted under the valid sections of law,” the officer added.
Breathalysers are used to measure the quantity of alcohol in a motorist’s blood.
Sources at Bidhannagar commissionerate and Kolkata police said the recent spate of accidents near the Chingrighata crossing, which prompted Mamata to ask the police to ensure there were no more accidents, has led to the cops to restart the drive against drink driving.
Many motorists who were made to undergo the alcohol test were prosecuted for violating the night curfew irrespective of whether they were found driving after consumption of alcohol beyond the permissible limit.