FIR lodged against organisers of Asaduddin Owaisi's Mumbai rally for breaching COVID norms

A day after All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi held a rally in Mumbai, Mumbai Police registered an FIR against the organisers of Owaisi's rally for allegedly violating COVID-19 norms and defying Section 144 of CrPC, an official said on Sunday.

The city police registered the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Sections 188 (disobeying the order promulgated by public servant), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and provisions of the Disaster Management Act. The rally was attended by thousands of people including AIMIM activists, who had travelled from Aurangabad in Marathwada led by party MP Imtiyaz Jaleel. 

Owaisi slams Maharashtra CM for Section 144 imposition 

After the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) was denied permission to campaign for the Maharashtra civic polls, Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The AIMIM chief asked if the same would have been done if a Congress leader visited the state.  

The Mumbai police had on Friday announced the imposition of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) within Mumbai Commissionerate limits out of concerns from the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron.

As per the order, police prohibited rallies and protest marches for the next two days against the backdrop of rising cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in the state. People were directed to avoid any public gathering in the city over the weekend.

Maharashtra on Friday reported 695 new coronavirus cases.

Kerala, Andhra, Chandigarh report first Omicron cases

Meanwhile, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh reported their first Omicron case on Sunday, while Maharashtra and Karnataka each recorded one more case of the newly discovered COVID-19 variant, taking the tally in the country to 38. All five persons in the cases reported on Sunday had arrived from foreign countries.

According to state health officials, a 20-year-old fully vaccinated man who came to Chandigarh from Italy to meet his relatives and a 34-year old foreign traveller, who came from Ireland to Mumbai and then to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, tested positive for the variant.

(With inputs from PTI)