Assam police have apprehended at least two persons from Barpeta and Dibrugarh district on Friday for violating the guidelines of the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

While one was held from Majdiya area under Sarthebari police station in Barpeta district, the second person was nabbed at Rajgarh in Dibrugarh town.

The person detained in Barpeta district was identified as one Chikim Ali, who was found to have opened his tea stall in the area, encouraging public gathering during the lockdown.

In Dibrugarh, the police have not revealed the name of the detainee who was allegedly loitering around the town on a motorcycle bearing registration number AS06D3271.

Legal action has been initiated against the duo already.

Any person disobeying any regulation or the order made under the Epidemics Diseases Act of 1897 shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, which can lead to a jail term of six months, a fine, or both.

The arrests were a result of a crackdown by state police after people started flouting the guidelines of nationwide lockdown all over the state allegedly on the pretext of going out to buy essentials.

During the first day of the lockdown, state police had resorted to lathicharge to disperse those who were found out on streets without urgent reasons.

However, they were later forced to stop such tactics, facing sharp criticism from human rights groups.

Assam police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “We request the citizens to follow the lockdown guidelines, otherwise we will be constrained to take stringent action.”

Mahanta said state police have registered 67 cases in the state since the beginning of the lockdown.

At least 115 people were booked for violating the lockdown guidelines. The police have also seized over 200 vehicles.

Assistant director-general of police (law and order), G.P. Singh, and city police commissioner Munna Gupta were also asked to ensure supply of essential goods from outside the state.

Since Friday morning, hundreds across the state were seen outside their homes, thronging vegetable markets and assembling in groups.

In Guwahati, too, the lockdown went for a toss when a large number of people came out of their residences and moved to vegetable markets to buy supplies.

Expressing displeasure over how people have been refusing to practise social distancing and endangering everyone, including their own parents and children, Singh said, “Sad experience of the day. We would do all in our might to keep the people safe. Please stay home unless there’s an emergent requirement. The police have been instructed to implement restrictions without exception all over the state.”

He also asked people to remain calm and stay indoors.

“In the interest of people, we would take firm action for our collective future. Anyone who has no emergent reason should not come out of home,” he added.

The state government had earlier allowed opening vegetable shops for few hours on Friday resulting in a mad rush. However, seeing the situation going out of hand, later the markets were ordered to shut down.

Stranded return: A fresh batch of some 226 people from Assam who were stranded at the inter-state border of Assam-West Bengal was received by Kokrajhar district administration on Friday. On Thursday too, the district administration received 180 stranded people. All of them were screened and quarantined.

The superintendent of police, Kokrajhar, Rakesh Raushan, told The Telegraph, “All these people were asked to go for 14-day quarantine after being screened. Though at this moment there is no information about more people reaching the inter-state border gate of Sri Rampur, we are ready to house them.”

Raushan said besides two guesthouses where most of these incomers were kept on quarantine, two more quarantine centres were set up in the district to meet any kind of emergency. Kokrajhar police provided them with food and water.

With the arrival of the fresh batch of people, the state government has so far received around 706 people who were stranded at various locations of the country while on their way back home in Assam due to the nationwide lockdown.

Earlier, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government was expecting over 700 people who either work outside the state or were travelling in other parts of the country and then got stuck in Bengal due to the nationwide lockdown.

He had said they would all be shifted to a quarantine centre being built in the city.

Meanwhile, panic gripped Sivasagar district after locals found at least two truck drivers reaching the area from Haryana without any medical check-up yet.

They were sent to a nearby medical facility. Locals claimed two more trucks entered in the city but were untraceable.

“How come these truck drivers reached Assam without any screening?” one of them asked.