Police officers have been pictured ‘beating’ lockdown rule breakers with batons in India as the country continues to battle a devastating second wave of Covid.
New severe restrictions have been put in place in Assam as the northeastern state tries desperately to get to grips with a surging case rate.
On Saturday, the local government issued fresh rules to be imposed indefinitely from the following day, with law enforcers appearing to take a heavy hand with flouters.
It is now mandatory for shops to shut from 11am each day, while a total ban on movement comes in from noon until 5am – meaning residents have only seven hours of freedom.
Certain vehicles aren’t even allowed to be used during curfew hours.
An order detailing the new regulations was signed by Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah and applies to urban areas, as well as anywhere within 5km from the periphery of the governing body’s constituency.
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The curfew will remain in place from 6pm in rural areas.
Bizarrely, the order also states that vehicles with odd registration numbers will be allowed on odd days, while even registrations have the green light to travel on even days.
Photos have now emerged of officers yesterday in the state swinging long cane-style truncheons at people – who presumably have broken curfew – in broad daylight.
One of the worrying snaps shows a policeman swinging his baton double-handed like a baseball bat at an unarmed man in a face mask, and another shows the same officer chasing the man.
A pair of officers are also pictured surrounding a man with their batons raised, while another photo shows a policeman swinging at a man’s bicycle wheels as he rides past.
(Image: Anuwar Hazarika/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
One photo appears to show the moment of impact as a man is struck while surrounded by four officers.
Over the last 15 days, Assam has recorded 71,856 new infections, according to the health department.
India’s tally of coronavirus infections reached nearly 24.7 million on Sunday, increasing by 311,170 new cases over the previous 24 hours, while deaths rose by 4,077.
India’s tally stands at 24.68 million with the death toll at 270,284, health ministry data showed.
(Image: Prabhat Kumar Verma/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: Prabhat Kumar Verma/Pacific Press/REX/Shutterstock)
It comes as piles of dead bodies buried in shallow sand graves washed up on the banks of the river Ganges at Phaphamau Ghat in Prayagraj, during torrential rain showers.
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh were urged to avoid disposing of the dead in bodies of water despite the rising number of fatalities.
However, the price of cremations have reportedly trebled in some areas due to the surging demand.
A state government spokesman for Prayagraj yesterday denied reports that more than 1,000 corpses of Covid victims had been recovered from rivers in the past two weeks.
“I bet these bodies have nothing to do with Covid,” he said.
He explained that some villagers don’t cremate their dead due to a Hindu tradition during certain periods of religious significance and instead dug graves on riverbanks.