y A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Apr. 16: Around 15,000 security forces from three security bodies — Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the Nepali Army — have been on duty in Kathmandu Valley to control unwanted human movement and enforce the lockdown imposed by the government.
Deputy Inspector General and Chief at Metropolitan Police Office Bishwa Raj Pokharel said there are currently around 15,000 security forces in the field in a day to implement the lockdown effectively and monitor people’s movement in all places.
At least two or three security members are there in all nooks and crannies of the inner roads and main roads in the Capital who are on duty for 24/7 after the government extended nationwide lockdown taking a Cabinet decision on Tuesday, DIG Pokharel said.
For effective implementation of the lockdown, and management of relief distribution task in the community, community-police partnership concept, local bodies are also supporting the police administration in making the lockdown decision effective, he said.
The lockdown in the Capital will be stricter than the previous days from Wednesday onwards as the coronvirus positive cases have been on the rise in the Capital. Kathmandu Police which had been arresting around 1,500 people in a day during the lockdown period, on Wednesday morning had already arrested 2,500 people in the morning hours, DIG Pokharel said.
“There is an increasing trend among the Kathmandu denizens to come out of their homes in the name of buying groceries and becoming fresh themselves during the evening and morning hours of the lockdown, but from today, we will not let them do so,” DIG Pokharel said.
Meanwhile, Suncity Apartment premises have been sealed from inside and out from Sunday night after two persons tested positive in the apartment, he said. There at the apartment, Pepsicola-based police office has deployed a police squad to implement the quarantine in the apartment, DIG Pokharel said.
DIG Pokharel said that 242 people are residing at Block A of the apartment where two people tested positive. And in all three blocks, there are more than 1,000 people.
Rapid diagnostic test of the people residing at Block A will be conducted from Wednesday, he said.
Likewise, Assistant Chief District Officer Krishna Bahadur Katuwal of Kathmandu said that Kathmandu district has stopped issuing any type of vehicle pass to people after the number of four wheelers in Kathmandu increased and the lockdown seemed to be unimplemented and unregulated.
“The Kathmandu District Administration will not issue any kind of vehicle pass from Wednesday except to people attending funeral procession and those relatives whose family members died during the lockdown period,” Katuwal said.
However, on Sunday, Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal in the presence of Home Secretary Maheshwor Neupane announced that the Kathmandu CDO would issue e-pass to essential vehicles based on their urgency and necessity.
– The Rising Nepal
