UP, MP crack whip, invoke NSA against attackers

Lucknow: Taking a tough stand in the wake of attack on officials amid the coronavirus scare, the Yogi Adityanath government has directed for strict action, including under the National Security Act (NSA), against those who attack police and other officials in Uttar Pradesh.

"During the lockdown, strict action will be taken against those who attack the police in the state. They will be booked under the NSA," a government statement said.

A tough-sounding tweet from Madhya Pradesh Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the threat of invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against Md Mustafa, Md Gulrez, Shoaib and Majeed who were arrested on Thursday for pelting stones on health workers in Indore's Tatpatti Bakhal area on Wednesday may have sent the desired message to anti-social elements.

The chief minister tweeted to say, "the human rights are for humans." Troublemakers will be dealt with firmly. "This is not just a tweet. It is a warning", Chouhan said.

"All my doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, ANM, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and urban body workers fighting the war against COVID-19, you continue your fight against Corona, your complete security. The responsibility is mine! I bow to your devotion," he said.

But the new DIG Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Harinarayanchari Mishra tried to clear the perception about a communal angle to the action. He said, "Based on the video footage, seven people responsible for the incident have been arrested after identification." Such elements can not be allowed to provoke innocent people for violence.

The DIG said that patients of the corona virus who are found in the city, their relatives and the people in contact with them are being searched by the Health Department by intensive campaign and they are being separated as a precaution so that the spread of this disease can be stopped.

Collector and District Magistrate Indore, Manish Singh has issued orders to send the four persons to jail under sub-section two of Section 3 of the National Security Act 1980. Singh has ordered the detained convicts to be kept in the Central Jail, Rewa.

"Rumours were spread against this campaign on social media before the stone pelting incident on the health workers. The message was against the anti-social elements and not a particular community, as was being made out in the media," the police said.