West Bengal comes to grinding halt on first total lockdown of September

Residents of Kolkata by and large complied with the state-wide lockdown imposed in West Bengal on Monday, even as incidents of violation of the restrictions were reported in some districts. The West Bengal government has declared complete lockdown across the state on September 7, 11 and 12.

Kolkata Police conducted naka-checking in several areas of the metropolis, while mobile units visited different localities to ensure that people remained indoors on the first day of lockdown this month. A total of 775 people were arrested in Kolkata for flouting lockdown norms, while 2,157 were held in other districts, police said. West Bengal Police took action against violators in several places, including Purulia, South 24 Parganas, Malda and impounded vehicles found plying without valid reasons, they said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had last week taken a swipe at the Centre over its Unlock-4 guidelines, and said that mere issuance of directions will not be enough as the state governments are the implementing authority and "trust must be reposed on them". The Ministry of Home Affairs had said lockdown outside containment zones cannot be imposed without prior consultation.