Cops, panch witnesses sniffed suspects’ mouths, FIR says

Ahmedabad: Despite the office of the director general of police on December 3 issuing a circular to the force to not smell the mouths of persons suspected to be drunk due to the Covid-19 situation, Maninagar police did just that on Wednesday.

The circular, written by IPG Narsimha Komar (IGP, law and order), stated that such persons could have Covid-19 and the

cops

or panch witnesses smelling their mouths could lead to infection.

An FIR lodged by assistant sub-inspector Vinu Harjivandas of Maninagar police station on Wednesday, states that when they were on patrol near Maninagar railway station, they intercepted a car with three persons in it.

It states that as the three seemed inebriated, the cops and three panch witnesses smelled their mouths and got a strong whiff of alcohol.

The three suspects were later identified as Rakesh Prajapati, 45, of Ramol; Santosh Gaekwad, 32, and Kiran Sathe, 40, both from Nashik.

Inspector B B Goyal of Maninagar police station said he had instructed his staff not to smell suspects’ mouths. “I will have to check whether this is a typing mistake in the FIR or the cops actually smelled the mouths of the suspects. If they did smell their mouths, it is a violation of Covid-19 guidelines,” he added. “It may take time for instructions in a circular to trickle down the ranks,” DGP Ashish Bhatia said.

“It may also be that they may not have actually smelled their mouths but stated so in the FIR,” he added.

“To smell the suspects mouths’, the cops would have had to get close to them, which would violate social distancing rules. It would be much worse if the suspect actually has Covid-19. The DGP should remind his force about the circular again, so it sends out a clear instruction,” said Gaurang Jani, a retired Gujarat University sociology professor.