Odisha law enforcers face raw deal from unruly Covid rule violators

BHUBANESWAR: ‘You stay at

home

, while we do our duty on the road’. This has been the war cry of those responsible for enforcing the Covid guidelines, including police and officials of other departments. However, these front-line warriors are now under attack.


They are not just being exposed to the virus while discharging their duties on the streets, but they have also been facing a raw deal from some unruly offenders. At least three instances of physical assaults on law enforcers have been reported in the state in the last one week.

“Enforcing the lockdown and weekend shutdown is not easy. We have been coming across several arrogant people, who argue, abuse and heckle the cops. Such misconduct by violators is being noticed at places which have only one or two cops on lockdown duty,” Nihar Mohanty, a police officer here said. Home guards and constables have been the worst-hit.

Enforcement

by non-uniformed officers of different departments, especially by the civic body and tehsil staff, is fraught with more danger. “Violators do not fear us as we do not wear khaki uniforms. It is not possible to get security from the police all the time during the enforcement activities,” Pragyan Swain, a civic body employee, said.

It must be noted that a mob attacked a tehsildar and three cops at Chheligada under

Gajapati

district’s R.Udayagiri area while they were enforcing Covid-19 norms at a

wedding

on May 7. Though the government is allowing wedding functions with only a limited number of guests owing to the pandemic, the enforcement staff found a large congregation at the marriage party. When they intervened, some of the unruly invitees attacked the law enforcers. The police had subsequently arrested a few of the attackers.

On May 6, a woman tehsildar was assaulted when she acted against a family, which had invited a large number of guests to a private function in Balasore district. On May 9, a banana seller attacked a police constable with a knife when the cop asked him to pay a fine for violating the lockdown rule.

On Thursday, Mayurbhanj police arrested 6 persons for allegedly attacking police and district administration officials in connection with the conduct of last rites of a Covid-19 victim in a village on May 11.

Taking strong note of the assaults on law enforcers, the association of the Odisha Administrative Service recently urged the state police headquarters to provide security to them during the enforcement activities. “We have been assisting government officers in their enforcement drives. Stringent action is being taken against the attackers,” a senior police officer said.