Bengaluru: Karnataka government has warned strict penal action against landlords or house-owners under provisions of law for forcing doctors, paramedical staff and healthcare professionals to vacate their rented residences citing COVID-19 spread through them as the reason.

Stating that lot of complaints have been received in this regard, an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare department Jawaid Akhtar said such behaviour amounted to obstructing public servant in discharging their duties./

Noting that the state government has issued Karnataka Epidemic Diseases (COVID-19) regulations 2020 for prevention and containment of the virus, it directed Deputy Commissioners of the district, Commissioner and Joint Commissioner of BBMP (civic body in Bengaluru), Commissioners of Municipal Corporations and District Deputy Commissioner of Police to take action against such incidents.

"Strict penal action should be taken against such landlords or house-owners under relevant provisions of law and submit an action taken report on a daily basis to office of Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department," the order read.

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Pratapgarh (UP) (PTI): Four people were booked here for the abduction and assault of a man who they allegedly tied to a tree and beat up, police said on Wednesday.

The incident, a video of which has gone viral, took place on Tuesday afternoon under the Kunda police station limits.

The FIR was registered on Wednesday evening based on a complaint from the victim's father.

According to Keshav Prasad Yadav, a resident of Mauli village, some people called his 18-year-old son Nikhil Yadav on the phone and asked him to come out of his house around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.

As he reached outside the village as instructed, the accused allegedly forced him into a car and took him towards the Tinpedwa forest area, where they tied him to a tree and assaulted, the complainant said.

The attackers also recorded a video of the incident and circulated it on social media. The purported video shows the men thrashing Nikhil one after another, while one of them is assumed to have recorded the act.

Kunda Station House Officer Manoj Pandey confirmed the incident and said efforts are underway to identify and arrest all the accused.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has shared the video on social media, describing the incident as reflective of a "dominant mindset" against the PDA (Pichda or Backward, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minority), and demanded strict action against the accused.