Delhi Police to have dedicated teams to keep check on COVID-19 violations

New Delhi: Soon after the Delhi Police revoked the power granted to traffic police personnel to challan people for COVID-19 violations, the city police have ordered the formation of dedicated teams in each police station to keep a check on violations of rules such as mandatory mask-wearing in public and spitting in public.

According to a Delhi Police order, all police stations will deploy such teams in uniform at one location from 10 am to 6 pm every day. The team shall consist of an upper subordinate and one lower subordinate who will report to one location in their respective district to prosecute people for violating COVID-19 norms.

The district shall select one area/location by rotation where frequent violations are noticed and keep it under the supervision of the inspector for the concerned police station, the order by DCP Chinmoy Biswal read, specifically outlining that other district police personnel deployed for picket checking, patrol duty and crime control should strictly concentrate on their primary roles.

Moreover, traffic police have also been directed to focus on their primary role in regulating traffic and ensuring the safety of commuters. "All challan books which are thus not required by the district, traffic policemen, shall be taken back and kept in safe custody under the knowledge of concerned DCsP," the order read.

Delhi Police comprises six ranges, spread across 15 districts with 71 subdivisions, which have 209 police stations, including 178 territorial, seven railway unit police stations, 16 Metro unit police stations, two at IGIA and six police stations of specialised units.

As per Delhi Police data, on Wednesday, 5,521 challans were issued for mask violations. So far 2,83,638 challans have been issued for mask violations. Police have also issued a total of 27,342 challans for violating social distancing norms to date.