Indian state CM threatens lockdown violators with 'shoot at sight' orders

India's Telangana state has registered 36 positive cases and has 140 suspected cases of COVID-19

As India is quarantined under a 21-day lockdown to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed 10 lives in the country so far, chief minister of a state has issued a stern warning to violators who are not taking the regulations seriously.

India has so far reported over 500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 10 deaths.

Health researchers have warned that more than a million people in India could be infected with coronavirus by mid-May, prompting the government to shut down all air and train travel, businesses and schools.

"If people will not listen to the police, I will ask for army deployment and issue shoot-at-sight orders," India Today quoted the Telangana CM as saying on Wednesday.

Modi puts all of India under lockdown for 21 days to fight coronavirus

Urging people of the state to follow police instructions and cooperate with the cops, the chief minister said: “I am instructing all MLAs, ministers and corporators to remain available, it’s the time for their action.”

He said passports of patients who have tested positive for novel coronavirus have been taken away. However, those violating home quarantine protocol will also face passport seizure, he added.

Telangana has registered 36 positive cases and has 140 suspected cases of COVID-19. The state has screened 19,330 foreign returnees so far.

More than 400,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus globally and 17,000 have died since it emerged in China.

Across South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, authorities are scrambling to raise their defences as the virus spreads.

The original story appeared on India Today