UP man defies lockdown to host party on son's birthday, booked

Gorakhpur (UP), Apr 16 () A man in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur has been booked for allegedly hosting a party on his 10-year-old son's birthday in his housing complex defying the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, police said on Thursday.

A case has been registered against the man, who is a trader, and some unidentified persons after a video of the event went viral on social media, they said.

The accused went ahead with his plan to host the party despite opposition from some residents of the residential complex. The video purportedly shows around 50 invitees socialising and having food from stalls set up outside the apartment located in a posh area of the city, a police official said.

All of them were booked under the Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act, and IPC sections 188 (disobedience of order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligence leading to spread of infectious diseases), police said.

Circle Officer of Cantonment Police Station Sumit Shukla said, "The viral video of the birthday party was examined and found true, following which the FIR was registered against the trader and other unidentified persons for defying the lockdown."

A resident of the housing complex said, "Despite opposition by residents of the apartment, he arranged for a cook to prepare meals for the party and requested all to attend the event. But most of the residents stayed away. Of the around 500 people in residential complex, about 60 attended the event." CORR ABN NSDNSD