Hyderabad: Frustrated with some people not taking the lockdown seriously, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has warned that if violations continued, his government would be compelled to call out the army and issue shoot-at-sight orders.
As the lockdown continued for the fourth day with about 40 million people confined indoors, Rao said he would also be forced to impose a 24-hour curfew.
Angered at the sight of people roaming around and mingling in large numbers, the Chief Minister said: “Please don’t create a situation where the government is forced to issue shoot-at-sight orders”.
At present there is a lockdown in the state during the day, with exemptions for emergency services. There is a total curfew during the night to prevent further spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The strict measures and restrictions seem to have started paying dividends as no fresh case was reported during the last 24 hours.
The number of COVID-19 infections in the state stood at 39, with five of them infected locally by foreign returnees.
One of them was the son of a deputy superintendent of police in Bhadradi-Kothagudem district. After his son returned from abroad, the police officer failed to report it to the government and was not isolated. By the time the case came to light, he had infected his father and the cook at home.
Meanwhile, the lockdown was affecting all sections of people. While the availability of essential commodities including vegetables had come a challenge, the tenants, specially workers from other parts of the state, were facing a peculiar situation. As their landlords forced them to vacate their properties, hundreds of workers from outside Hyderabad lined up outside Madhapur police station on Wednesday demanding travel arrangements for them to return home.
