The Commissionerate police on Monday shut down several shops at different business hubs in Bhubaneswar and also imposed fines on their owners for flouting the Covid-19 protocols.
Joint teams of police and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) conducted surprise raids in six zones of the city and sealed as many as 42 shops.
Many mobile shops in Bapuji Nagar were among the business establishments sealed and fines were collected from the owners for not following Covid appropriate behaviour.
Similarly, as many as 18 shops dealing with automobile spare parts, repairing, tea and liquor located along the Cuttack-Puri Road were also sealed and penalised during the raids. "Since the beginning of the lockdown, we have been conducting barricading and checking at main junctions of the city. We are also conducting surprise raids at several places. People are requested to follow Covid appropriate behaviour to keep them safe," said Zone 1 ACP Manas Ranjan Garnaik. "During the surprise raid today, we found many mobile phone shops open at Bapuji Nagar in violation of lockdown norms and sealed them. A liquor shop was also sealed at Ashok Nagar and strict action will be taken against the violators," added Garnaik.
Notably, the capital city city is reporting 400 to 500 casesCovid-19 positive cases daily. Besides, it has a test positivity rate (TPR) of 10 per cent while it is 5 per cent in the State. Despite the efforts of the authorities, the State capital remains a coronavirus hotspot since the onset of second wave of the pandemic. Also three to four casualties are reported due to the disease daily.