Assam police have realised penalty of over Rs 1 crore and arrested more than 2,600 persons since the nationwide lockdown began a month ago on March 24 midnight but its violation continues to trouble the men in uniform.

Official statistics say, “In 2,208 incidents, at least 2,688 persons were arrested till Friday evening. Around 19,371 vehicles were seized. A fine of over Rs 1.22 crore was also realised during the lockdown.”

Assam director-general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “Stringent sections of the IPC like 269 and 270 (negligent/malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) were also slapped on the violators.”

Yet, on an average, 70 to 80 cases of lockdown violation are registered daily.

A police officer said, “We are taking all possible steps to ensure the lockdown but have realised that a lot of people are still not aware of the coronavirus threat. That could be a reason why there have been so many arrests.”

Police sources said most cases involved people who were on the road without any valid reason or document. Assam police have allowed only essential service personnel with valid passes to be outside for work purposes.

Many were also arrested for allegedly violating social distancing norms in grocery and vegetable shops, for rumour-mongering on social media and not wearing masks, mandatory while out.

On Friday, city traffic police asked people to post pictures and share information of any traffic violation on its Facebook page and Whatsapp number 6901269006 for prompt action. The department has also encouraged the public to share images of any wrongdoing by police personnel on duty.

The police have also banned spitting and urinating in public places to check the spread of the virus. Such activities will attract fines and criminal charges.

The police were also strictly checking vehicles after receiving inputs that many vehicles carrying essential commodities and even ambulances were found to e illegally transporting people during the lockdown.

The cyber unit of the state police has been asked to maintain round-the-clock surveillance on social media to check spread of rumours.

Assam police have so far registered 85 cases of social media misuse and arrested 46 persons. Over 170 persons were counselled and 200 offensive posts were pulled down in the past month, official records say.

The police have also been supplying essential items, especially medicines, to the elderly during the lockdown.

Health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “It’s highly commendable that the state police have rendered service beyond their purview. So far, they have supplied medicines to some 48,000 people.”

To provide relief to the police personnel, the state health department has decided to engage accredited social health activists and multipurpose health workers for home delivery of medicines.

“If anyone is out of medicines and can’t find it in the locality, they can call helpline 104,” Sarma said.

Assam police have also chalked out strategies to check crimes in the post-lockdown period, the DGP told reporters in Chirang district.

He said crime has decreased during the lockdown but may rise later and steps are being taken n consultation with sociologists to control it. To address mental health problems during the lockdown, the police have formed a group of counsellors to respond to the situation, he said.

Additional reporting by Tejesh Tripathy in Bongaigaon