Ahmedabad, Jan 22 (PTI) Night curfew is all set to begin in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday in 17 towns of Gujarat amid the COVID-19 outbreak and police have been asked to implement it with "officer-oriented policing with human approach", a top official said.

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The night curfew, which will be in force from 10pm to 6am, was announced in these towns for the first time by the state government recently, while such curbs are already in place in 10 major cities of the state.

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"Police officers, including SPs and Range IGs, have been informed through video conferencing about strict implementation of night curfew in 17 additional towns. They have been asked to enforce it with officer-oriented policing with human approach, involving local police, home guards and GRDs (gram rakshak dal)," State Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia told reporters.

Bhatia said loud speakers have been used and meetings are being held to spread awareness among people about "self implementation" of the night curfew, before police take up its enforcement.

"Police have been taking measures for strict implementation of COVID-19 guidelines, with a fine of Rs 1,000 collected from 97,903 people for not wearing face masks in the last one week. During this period, 3,830 FIRs were registered and 3,206 people arrested for violating social distancing norms. A total of 381 vehicles were seized for night curfew violation," the DGP said.

He also urged people to compulsorily register online for marriage functions during the ongoing season as well as adhere to the attendance cap of 150 people at such events.

The Gujarat government had on Friday imposed night curfew in 17 more towns with high positivity rates while extending its implementation in 10 cities till January 29.

At present, night curfew is in force in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Anand and Nadiad.

The towns that have been added to this list include Surendranagar, Dhrangradhra, Morbi, Wankaner, Dhoraji, Gondal, Jetpur, Kalawad, Godhra, Vijalpore (Navsari), Navsari, Bilimora, Vyarav, Vyapar, Bharuch and Ankleshwar.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)