Following the increased robbery incidents in and around Patiala, the District Administration has ordered commuters, especially women, riding two-wheelers not to cover their faces while driving. The police have banned the practice to maintain law and order situation in the city. Sources confirmed that in the recent past as many as three robbery and several snatching incidents in the city triggered the need for this order by the administration.
“In the past four days, robbers have struck twice in Patran, robbing a bank. Two of them were on a motorcycle with their faces covered, while their accomplices in the car were identified through CCTV footage available from the spot of crime”, they said. The police failed to crack the case, despite the same robbers hitting in Patiala and later conducting crimes in nearby districts. “One of the reasons is that the accused had their faces covered during the crime and we have small footage of them with uncovered faces,” said a senior police officer, probing the cases. Patiala District Magistrate Ramvir Singh issued the orders for imposing the ban under Section 144 of the CrPC.
“Anti-social elements usually cover their faces while executing crimes to prevent themselves from being identified and it becomes difficult for the police to trace them,” the sources said. Senior officers said: “The orders will be in force till November 8. No person will cover his or her face while driving a vehicle or walking on the roads as anti-social elements take advantage by covering their faces after committing a crime and evade arrest. We have security cameras in many parts of the city and with covered faces, these people manage to give us the slip.” Such bans have already been issued in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar where the police are issuing challans and registering cases against all such violators. Even in those cities, the main reason behind the ban and official orders was the rising crime graph.
