Bilaspur Congress MLA Shailesh Pandey has been booked under sections 188 and 269 of the IPC, police said.
A Congress MLA in Chhattisgarh has been booked for violation of lockdown norms in place for the novel coronavirus outbreak after a huge crowd gathered outside his house following an announcement regarding distribution of free ration.
Shailesh Pandey was booked in Bilaspur on Sunday under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC, police said.
According to reports, the Bilaspur Congress MLA had announced the distribution of free ration following which a huge crowd gathered outside his house in violation of Section 144 imposed across the state in view of the nationwide lockdown imposed to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.
A senior police official said Pandey has not been arrested.
The MLA defended his action saying he was the one who called the police and questioned the cops over the failure to stop the crowd from gathering.
Pandey said he was helping poor people affected by the lockdown for the past few days.
"I was trying to help needy people, there is nothing wrong in it. However, when I saw a huge crowd outside my residence for collecting ration today, I immediately called up the police to disperse the crowd," he said.
Why didn't Police stop the crowd, he asked.
"When I reached my office today, I saw a huge crowd there. I called up Additional SP and requested him to help manage the crowd. He came and I requested people to go back to their home where ration and medicines would be delivered," he wrote in Hindi on his Facebook page.
"It is a matter of surprise how such huge crowd had gathered there. I was just fulfilling my responsibility. I did not violate any measures and alerted people," he added.
Pandey said he did not know who was the "sponsor" of FIR and he would move to court against this.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a nationwide 21-day lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus. While supplies of essential items are allowed during the period, people are advised to follow social distancing guidelines issued by the government.
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