Bengaluru: In a strong message against smoking in public places, the Northeast division police conducted a special enforcement drive and booked hundreds of violators under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).The operation was carried out across all 13 police station limits including in Yelahanka, Kodigehalli, Vidyaranyapura, Sampigehalli, Amruthahally, Kothanur, Bagaluru, Chikkajala, Devanahalli and surrounding areas from the evening of March 6 till late night and continued into the early hours of March 7.
Police teams conducted surprise inspections at several public places such as near educational institutions, temples and shops selling tobacco products, hotels. Police also checked shops that had illegally displayed cigarette and beedi advertisements at the entrances of their establishments, an act that violates the provisions of the COTPA Act. Police registered 40 cases in respective police stations and imposed fines on 295 people. Officials said such drives will continue in the coming days to ensure strict compliance with anti-tobacco laws and to remind people that smoking in public places is a punishable offence.
