FIR against 26 people for unlawfully protesting cremation of Covid victims

The FIR has been lodged on the basis of a letter written by the magistrate, Station House Officer (SHO) of the police station Ravi Shankar Singh said. The protestors hailing from north Mandiri area failed to produce valid papers when asked to do so by Magistrate Chandan Prasad, who is deputed at Bansghat, the main cremation ground in the state capital.

Over two dozen people were booked for unauthorisedly protesting against cremation of COVID-19 victims at a crematorium here, when a statewide total lockdown is in force, officials said on Monday. A group of people residing near Bansghat crematorium came on the street Sunday against burning of bodies of coronavirus deceased.

Seeing burning of the body of a Covid 19 victim the previous day, the agitators took out a procession demanding that the last rites of people dying due to infection be done at a fair distance away from the place where it is conducted presently. Police registered an FIR against 26 people for staging protest without prior permission, a Patna district administration release said.

The case has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 at Buddha Colony police station of the capital city. The FIR has been lodged on the basis of a letter written by the magistrate, Station House Officer (SHO) of the police station Ravi Shankar Singh said.

The protestors hailing from north Mandiri area failed to produce valid papers when asked to do so by Magistrate Chandan Prasad, who is deputed at Bansghat, the main cremation ground in the state capital. Crowding is illegal during lockdown which in force in the state from July 16-31.

The people had also violated social distancing norms while protesting, the release said. The agitators feared risk to their health as the bodies of COVID-19 patients are being cremated on wooden logs at Bansghat not much far from their homes, the SHO said.

On an average, five to 10 bodies of COVID-19 victims are burnt at Bansghat on a daily basis, police said..