Day 2 of COVID-19 lockdown sees minimal police presence
The Hindu
This comes a day after police were pulled up for use of unnecessary force
A day after the police were pulled up for unnecessary brutality, they were conspicuous by their near absence from the streets on Tuesday, the second day of the total lockdown in Karnataka. No instances of police beating up or caning commuters were reported. Even the seizure of vehicles witnessed a drastic drop from over 2,500 vehicles on day one to just 720 vehicles on Tuesday. “During the last two weeks, lockdown was not effective. The cases went up further in the state, which made a complete lockdown necessary. People need to cooperate, which they are not, prompting us to use force. But the widespread opposition to police action has demoralised the force,” said a senior official.The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.