The Karnataka Police has taken a bold step and banned the use of vehicles in the state until April 14. This is being done to ensure that citizens adhere to the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
The Director-General of Police (DGP) of Karnataka took to Twitter on April 1 to declare the ban. The tweet said, “This is not an April Fool's prank. Two/ four wheelers are banned from use till the 14th of April. We will SEIZE your vehicle if you CEASE to ignore this lockdown regulation.”
Following up on the statement, the police managed to seize 6,852 vehicles on the first day of the ban itself. In a tweet, Bangalore Police Commissioner, Bhaskar Rao confirmed that up until 7 pm on April 1, they had seized 6,321 two-wheelers, 227 three-wheelers and 304 four-wheelers. The seized vehicles will be released by the authorities only after the lockdown ends on April 14.
The only exceptions to the ban will be vehicles used for delivery of essential goods, and those with medical emergency passes. Bhaskar Rao advised citizens to walk to the grocery store and not use it as an excuse to bring out their vehicles. He went on to say that each police station in the city would be given 200 medical emergency passes which can be availed and returned by motorists on a daily basis.