Punjab: Amritsar cop slaps shopkeeper for violating COVID-19 protocols; apologises later

An Amritsar shopkeeper was allegedly manhandled and slapped by the police on Monday. The incident occurred in the city's Partap Bazar where strict COVID-19 protocols for shops are in effect. According to reports, the government in its meetings with the market associations decided that 50 per cent of shops will be allowed to remain open on a rotational basis from Monday. The shopkeepers were therefore asked to follow the left-right formula to operate their shops.

Amritsar cop manhandles and slaps shopkeeper

As per the Police Commissioner's tweet, a police team including Inspector Parkash Singh was inspecting the area to check if guidelines are being followed. However, he noticed that one shop on the prohibited side was opened by the shopkeeper, Raghav. Following this, Singh slapped Raghav. The incident was captured in CCTV footage. However, the matter was resolved in police and shopkeeper association officials' presence. After Inspector Parkash Singh apologised to Raghav, the latter decided not to push for further action. Even so, reports have stated that the police team is investigating the matter surrounding the behaviour of the police internally.

COVID-19 in Punjab 

On Monday, the state registered a record 198 COVID-19 fatalities, which took the death toll to 10,704, while 8,625 new cases pushed the tally to 4,50,674, according to a medical bulletin. The number of active cases rose to 75,800 from 74,343 on Sunday. In addition, 6,894 coronavirus patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, taking the number of cured persons to 3,64,170, it added. 

With PTI Inputs