COVID-19: 51 booked for holding cricket match in Greater Noida

Challans have also been issued to owners of 17 cars which were used by the participants of the match held on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, Rajesh Kumar Singh said. Those booked include two Delhi-based organisers of the event and they have been identified as Deepak Aggarwal and Nagik Khurana.

Fifty-one people have been booked for holding a cricket match in Greater Noida in violation of the administration's COVID-19 guidelines, police said on Saturday. Challans have also been issued to owners of 17 cars which were used by the participants of the match held on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Greater Noida, Rajesh Kumar Singh said.

Those booked include two Delhi-based organisers of the event and they have been identified as Deepak Aggarwal and Nagik Khurana. Several participants too hailed from the national capital, the police said. "The cricket match was held in the Knowledge Park police station area without permission, with its lead organisers being Deepak Aggarwal and Nagik Khurana. Due to COVID-19, it is well known that everyone has to maintain social distancing and it has been made mandatory to wear masks," Singh said. He said a lot of people had gathered for the event without following social distancing norms.

Fifty-one people have been booked and an FIR has been registered at the Knowledge Park police station, the DCP said. The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently spreading infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), the police said.

Provisions under the Epidemic Diseases Act have also been invoked in the case, they added. Gautam Buddh Nagar police had recently renewed CrPC Section 144, which bars assembly of more than four people at a place, till July 31 in view of the pandemic across Noida and Greater Noida. The district police had also extended the ban on social, political, cultural or sports gatherings among others, and warned action against offenders.

Gautam Buddh Nagar, adjoining Delhi, has so far recorded 2,569 COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths, according to official figures till Friday. The number of active cases stood at 1,005.

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