After a video of a 22-year-old man celebrating his birthday, cutting cake and lighting crackers went viral on Saturday, the Nagpada police arrested Hammad Ansari from Nagpada in south Mumbai for celebrating his birthday on a public roadway in Madanpura. On Sunday, the police filed a case against Ansari for violating the social distancing norms amidst the ongoing countrywide lockdown.
The case was registered against Ansari and three others under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 and 270 (negligent and malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
"We arrested him on June 6 and after completing the formal procedures he was released on bail. We also made him delete the video and pictures of the celebration from the social networking site," said an official. "They burst loud firecrackers and Ansari cut a cake on a street," the official further said.
The police officer also said," After the cake was cut, Ansari's friends went on to rub the cake on his face. He shared the video of the celebration on social media with the tagline 'Baap Baap Hota hai' (the father will always remain so) which sent out a message that the lockdown could not deter him from celebrating his birthday."
As reported by the police, the accused person, Ansari is a social worker. "Ansari celebrated his birthday at midnight on June 6 at Mandanpura. At midnight his friends burst firecrackers and cut a cake. The celebration did not follow any social distancing norms as the friends are seen mixing around freely [in the video]," added the officer.
"Through their acts, they violated the social distancing norms and the lockdown order. In the video that Ansari had posted on Facebook, he boasted about how he celebrated the birthday despite the restrictions," he further stated.
Although, Ansari was allowed to leave immediately after being served a notice. The video was also removed from social media platforms.