Odisha Police deploy extra personnel for strict enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines

As many as 50 more police officers and five platoons of armed police personnel will be deployed in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to strictly enforce COVID-19 guidelines as the pandemic situation in the twin cities appeared to have taken an alarming shape, a senior police officer said. Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay said he held a review meeting with senior officers including Commissioner of Police, Cuttack-Bhubaneswar about enforcement of COVID regulations in the twin cities.

A day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik voiced disappointment over enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Odisha Police on Thursday deployed extra personnel to keep a close vigil on violators to put a brake on unabated surge in corona cases. As many as 50 more police officers and five platoons of armed police personnel will be deployed in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to strictly enforce COVID-19 guidelines as the pandemic situation in the twin cities appeared to have taken an alarming shape, a senior police officer said.

Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay said he held a review meeting with senior officers including Commissioner of Police, Cuttack-Bhubaneswar about enforcement of COVID regulations in the twin cities. It was decided to take necessary steps to substantially enhance the COVID-19 enforcement activities in the two cities, he said. The police chief said that he also interacted with several police officers of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as part of the efforts to enhance enforcement operations in the two cities and they were quite enthusiastic in their response though several of them were infected with COVID-19.

He said the deployment of additional police force has been arranged in order to ensure strict compliance of the COVID norms in the two cities. The move by the police comes a day after the chief minister expressed dissatisfaction over the enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines in the police commissionerate area.

"I get good feedback about enforcement activities throughout the state, the same in the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionerate area is not encouraging. I have been repeatedly emphasising on this. DGP must look into this and do the needful," the chief minister said during a review meeting held on Wednesday. As part of efforts to strengthen enforcement activities in the two cities, Bhubaneswar will be divided into three zones and each zone will have a DCP level officer to ensure stricter enforcement of the COVID-19 guidelines.

While additional police personnel are being deployed, the enforcement teams will keep a close vigil on the COVID-19 hotspot areas and market places in the cities, Commissioner of Police Sudhansu Sarangi said. In Cuttack, as many as 17 enforcement squads are being formed under the supervision of senior officers to ensure that COVID-19 guidelines are strictly followed by people in the city, Cuttack DCP Prateek Singh said.

Patrolling is also being strengthened and action will be taken against those found flouting guidelines. Special attention is being taken to ensure that people wear masks, maintain social distancing and hygiene, he said. Shops found violating the COVID-19 guidelines will be sealed and fined, while people are being urged to refrain from stepping out unless it is very urgent, he said.

Of the 1,67,161 COVID-19 cases reported in Odisha so far, 28,794 are from Khurda district, where Bhubaneswar is located. On an average, around 400 COVID cases are being reported from the state capital every day. Similarly, 14,502 cases have so far been reported from Cuttack district and bulk of these are from Cuttack city..