COVID-19 lockdown: Crowd breaks social distance to get free milk, Bengaluru police resort to mild lathicharge

Close to 2,000 people gathered In front of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office in Kamalanagar in West Bengaluru on Friday morning to get the free milk which was being distributed for the needy. As the crowd was not maintaining social distance, police had to resort to mild lathicharge to clear the crowd.

Due to the lockdown, free milk was being distributed in the BBMP office. A canter load full of Nandini Milk packets were being distributed for the poor and needy. When the information spread among the residents in the area, thousands of people including the ones, who were financially stable, also hit the street and rushed to the BBMP office to get the free milk.

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Apart from not maintaining social distance, many people in the crowd had not worn masks. Police, on learning about the crowd gathering there, rushed to the spot and struggled for almost half-an-hour to clear the crowd.

"When we cleared the crowd in front of the BBMP office, they started gathering on the adjacent roads. We had a tough time clearing them and making them understand the importance of maintaining social distance. Many people got into arguments with us, so we had to resort to a mild lathi-charge," said a senior officer.

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It is very unfortunate to see that many people were rich enough to buy milk, but they came to take the free milk meant for the poor, the officer added