PUNE: An offence was registered for alleged COVID-19 norm violations on Sunday after NCP workers gathered a day earlier in Pune for the inauguration of a new party office, police said.
The inauguration event took place in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and other party leaders, an official said.
"While the organizers sought police permission claiming 100 to 150 people would attend, the actual crowd numbered close to 500, most of whom did not wear masks or maintain social distancing. We have booked NCP city unit president Prashant Jagtap and others under IPC, Disaster Management Act and other provisions," a Shivajinagar police station official said.
Jagtap on Sunday apologised and said the plan was to keep the event simple but party workers continued coming in and the crowd swelled.
Incidentally, the violation took place on a day when Pawar, after a review meeting, had warned people against lowering their guard as it could bring about a third wave of the infection.