Several arrested in Haripur for violating Section 144

HARIPUR:

Police in Haripur arrested several people on Sunday for violating the ban on bathing and swimming in the lakes, ponds and waterfalls, a spokesperson said.

According to details, during the three days of Eidul Fitr despite a ban on swimming under Section 144 by the Haripur District Administration, hundreds of young men from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Peshawar and other districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, reached the waterfalls, lakes, ponds and rivers of Haripur to beat the summer heat and enjoy the Eid holidays.

Haripur police, while enforcing the anti-Covid standard operating procedures (SOPs) and ban under Section 144 on swimming and bathing, arrested dozens of people violating the SOPs as well as the ban. Police also registered cases against the violators under Section 188, the spokesperson added.

Earlier, Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Mughees Sanaullah had imposed a ban on bathing and swimming under Section 144 so as to curb the spread of the virus and protect lives in wake of the third wave of coronavirus.

The order restricted people from taking baths and swimming in the streams, rivers, lakes and ponds of Ghazri Brotha stream, Tarbela and Khanpur lakes, River Indus, Bhari Dam and Khabar Bara Dam. The order shall remain in force for a period of 60 days as communicated before. The DC warned that any person violating the order shall render himself liable to punishment under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2021.