“I will also recommend the government to suspend the OC of the West Tripura police station for not acting upon repeated complaints of the people. And I, as a district magistrate, had to come here. It’s very shameful on the part of the police that they have behaved like this,” said a furious Yadav.
In a 2 minute viral video on the internet, Tripura West District Magistrate Dr. Shailesh Kumar Yadav ordered the closure of 2 marriage halls for violating the night curfew order in Agartala. He was also seen shouting and roughing up guests at a wedding. At least 31 people were detained from one of the venues.
Tripura West District Magistrate (DM) Dr Shailesh Kumar Yadav ordered closure of 2marriage halls for violating night curfew order in Agartala.
Tough times calls for tough measures..wish to see the same kind of action on other religious gatherings also.#COVID19India pic.twitter.com/wm6TCkJQdO
— ProNaMo (@Pronamotweets) April 27, 2021
The DM also lashed out at the police officials over their inability to take action against those defying COVID-19 protocols. “Manikya Court and Golap Bagan are banned and they will not be able to operate for the next one year. All the people who have assembled here have violated the order under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and will be prosecuted under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. They will all be arrested right now.”
“I will also recommend the government to suspend the OC of the West Tripura police station for not acting upon repeated complaints of the people. And I, as a district magistrate, had to come here. It’s very shameful on the part of the police that they have behaved like this,” said a furious Yadav.
Addressing the police officials present, he said “You too shall go. You all are hand in glove with these people. You have forgotten your police training.”
Netizens seem to have been divided on the issue. While many agree that everyone should have obeyed the night curfew order, the DM’s aggressive behavior where he’s seen pushing and slapping around people including the priest, was unwarranted.
According to News 18, the lagna (auspicious time) for the marriage of Abhi and Kabita was at 11.30 pm on April 26. Accordingly, the groom’s family, which hails from Bangalore, and the bride’s family were gathered at the Manikya court wedding venue, said to be the property of the royal family.
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“We had the needful permission for the marriage, where the DM had signed. Besides, there were limited invitees for the marriage and all had their masks on. The DM possibly arrived at 11.15 pm and then you have seen what happened in the video. Around 32 of us were taken to the police station where we were kept till 3 am. At the wee hours we had to arrange for the transportation to return,” said Subrojyoti Deb, elder brother of the bride.
The Tripura government had imposed a night curfew, between 10 pm to 5 am, starting April 22 till April 30. It had enforced several measures amid the fresh wave of COVID-19. Tripura Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar had issued a memorandum to put in force the measures. They included a penalty of Rs 1,000 for violation of social distancing norms in transports, business, and public places. Tripura has so far reported 34,738 cases, out of which 33,514 have recovered, and there have been 394 recorded deaths.
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