Cops are all set to enforce weekend curfew in Karnataka

Bengaluru: As the weekend curfew starts from Friday night and extend till Monday morning, the number of the city police force is likely to be stretched.

Of the force, 216 policemen have been tested Covid positive since April 1 and thus, deploying more of them for other night patrol, law and order and traffic enforcement amidst the pandemic is a challenging task.

Kamal Pant, police commissioner, stated that the force is under pressure but they stand back from their duties. He said, “Despite the constraints, we are carrying out our daily duties such as following up on old cases, making arrests, producing suspects in courts and registering FIRs at stations.” He added, “Sending teams to other states for probe hasn’t been affected. But if positive cases rise and we need more staff for weekend curfew, we may rethink it.”

Bengaluru police have nearly 16,000 personnel which is inclusive of 5,000 traffic cops. Around 1,500 have been deployed to enforce Covid protocols.

The condition of state police is the same as that of the city police. As the night curfew has begun, highway patrol police are being deployed at entry and exit points in districts. There are at least half a dozen highway patrol vehicles to monitor national and state highways round the clock.

A senior officer from Tumakuru district said, ” Local police assist us but we have to scan vehicles entering and exiting the district. Since we are on the Bengaluru border, we get more vehicles entering and exiting the city. We have to check private vehicles in particular.”

Patrolling vehicles in towns and rural areas in districts have been asked to set up checkposts on state highways. An official said, “Since the education department has called off exams up to class 10, more families will be travelling to different parts of the state in private vehicles. We have been strictly advised not to allow such vehicles during curfew hours.”