After Ragi’s demise, residents take curfew seriously

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 2

Panic gripped the city after the demise of Ragi Nirmal Singh Khalsa. Residents now prefer to stay indoors. As no case of coronavirus was reported till Wednesday, they thought there was no threat of community spread in the city. They were not convinced with the advisories of the government to stay indoors.

The death of Ragi Nirmal Singh Khalsa shocked the public, as he was a prominent personality and people used to listen to his Shabad Kirtan on television. Now, residents have started feeling the threat of community transmission and obeying the advisories.

The city witnessed less movement of general public on Thursday compared to the past few days. Gurpreet Singh, a cop on patrolling duty, said: “Now, there is panic among residents after the death of Ragi Nirmal Singh Khalsa. Earlier, they were not taking the curfew seriously. We can’t visit every street to implement the curfew. The residents should feel the threat of community spread.”

Meanwhile, the police also increased patrolling to implement curfew in the city. The cops deployed on nakas are not allowing anyone without curfew passes. The police have also issued challans, registered cases and impounded vehicles.

There was no official relaxation in the curfew, but shopkeepers in streets and mohallas were still seen selling goods. The police warned all such grocery stores, dairy owners and vegetable fruit vendors to stop such activities or face action. Sandip Singh, a resident of Majitha Road, said: “I used to go for morning walk even during curfew. On Thursday, cops warned me to stay at home. It seems the police are now strict in implementing the curfew.” Meanwhile, the administration officials claimed that door to door delivery of essential items was functional and everything was now streamlined.