In one week, Kerala Police registers several cases of Covid-19 protocol violations in state

In the past week, several cases of Covid protocol violations have been reported in the state leading to the Kerala Police to file cases against the violators.

The most recent case being against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kerala Police filed a case against BJP officials for allegedly violating Covid-19 norms during BJP national president JP Nadda’s rally at Thekkinkadu Maidan in Thrissur on Thursday.

“A case has been registered under the epidemic Act for violating Covid-19 protocol in the BJP rally,” said Thrissur Police Commissioner Aadhitya R, adding that no case has been registered against Nadda.

During his rally, Nadda lashed out at Health Minister KK Shailaja for being unable to control the Covid-19 situation in the state. “Over half the cases are from Kerala. When India has the highest recovery rate and lowest fatality rate, Kerala is performing poorly.

On Saturday, Kerala reported 5,942 Covid positive cases, 6,178 Covid recoveries and 16 deaths. However, with an increase in testing, Kerala conducted 82,804 samples and the TPR is 7.18%.

Earlier, alleging Covid-19 protocol violations during the UDF’s Aishwarya Kerala Yatra, Kannur police registered a suo moto case against 26 leaders and some 400 activists in Thalliparamba. The police have also registered a suo moto case against Congress workers in the area. Addressing the issue, Ramesh Chennithala, leading the yatra, and AICC General Secretary Tariq Anwar have claimed that the cases are politically motivated.

“The government can take action against not 400 but 4,000 people, but would they take the same action against ministers who have violated the protocol. This is a one-sided, politically motivated action to stop the Aishwarya Kerala Yatra. There are astounded by the success and acceptance it has garnered, and they want to stop it,” Chennithala said.

However, there have been Covid-19 protocols violations at several gathering where Kerala Police has not taken action leading to the Opposition to believe that the cases filed against them are politically motivated.

Earlier, amidst an increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Kerala, officials gathered in large numbers to cast their votes for the Secretariat canteen board election, and visuals of the incident showed that many had violated Covid-19 protocols by not wearing masks properly and maintaining social distance. However, in both situations, Police did not take action against organisers or the participants, not even by their cognisance. This had led the UDF to conclude that the action against Aishwarya Kerala Yatra had been motivated.

There was another event at Thalliparamba in Kannur also witnessed Covid protocol violations but, in this case, Kerala Police did not take any action. A massive gathering at the public Adalat organised by the Kerala government, and attended by Health Minister KK Shailaja, has caused worrying levels of Covid violations. The event, organised at Thalliparamba in Kannur, has witnessed people of many ages rushing in, especially as the organisers failed to accommodate the numbers.

While the organisers claimed that the rush was because people from other locations had gathered, the complainants who attended the event alleged that there was a rush from the beginning. The latter added that the organisers did not even have a proper mechanism in place to handle such an expected crowd, despite the same having happened in Alappuzha and Kollam. There were not enough sanitisers, and the seats were not arranged to accommodate social distancing. Moreover, the organisers only started to try to maintain the crowds after the media entered the scene.

Apart from Shailaja, Industries Minister EP Jayarajan and others were also present at the event. However, despite many Covid protocols violations at the event, the Thalliparamba Inspector Sathyanath reportedly refused to comment on the issue, especially in the backdrop of how they have refused to take any action against the organisers.