The Telegraph

Calcutta police commissioner Anuj Sharma on Monday asked the officers in charge of the 80 police stations in the city to issue passes to residents of their areas only in “extreme emergencies” such as a death in the family, officers said.

Each such pass will have to be counter-stamped by the office of the divisional deputy commissioner, the officers said.

Sharma addressed the officers in charge of all police stations through videoconferencing on Monday afternoon and asked them to issue passes only if there is an “extreme emergency”.

“The passes have to be counter-stamped by the office of the divisional deputy commissioner from now,” an officer quoted Sharma as saying during the conference.

Calcutta police had started two procedures of issuing passes — one is for individuals or organisations involved in delivery of essential supplies and the other for personal use by residents.

For the first category of passes, one has to apply online and, if approved, the permit is emailed to the applicant.

For the second, a resident has to visit the local police station with an application and collect the permit from an officer. Such passes, police commissioner Sharma told his officers, are to be issued in “extreme emergencies” such as a death in the family and counter-stamped by the office of the divisional deputy commissioner concerned.

Till Monday, Calcutta police had received over 30,000 online applications for e-passes. Officers said the number of applications received by the 80 police stations for the other type of passes could be much higher.

“Lalbazar is flooded with requests and applications for online passes. But only those with a genuine ground for making such a request are being issued the e-pass. A pass will be valid for a stipulated time,” an officer said.

“Some applied for an e-pass to visit the grocery shop. Some want an e-pass to buy medicines.... The applicants whose pleas are being rejected are being sent a text message informing him or her about the decision,” the officer said.

Sources said the number of vehicles on the roads had gone up considerably because of the passes. For stricter implementation of the lockdown, the police have put in place a two-layer confirmation before a pass for personal use is issued — first at the local police station and then at the office of the divisional deputy commissioner concerned.

A section of the police feels the two-layer verification system has been started to discourage people from asking for passes for trivial reasons.