Coronavirus: ESMA invoked in Madhya Pradesh, says CM

Bhopal, Apr 8 () The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday invoked the Essential Services Management Act (ESMA) with immediate effect to tackle the coronavirus spread, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said."In a bid to manage the COVID-19 outbreak in a better way and in the interest of the citizens, the government has implemented the Essential Services Management Act, called ESMA, with the immediate effect in Madhya Pradesh," Chouhan said in a tweet.

So far, 327 persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh with 14 more cases being reported on Wednesday.

Satna, Apr 8 (PTI) An FIR has been registered against

local Congress MLA Siddharth Kushwaha and seven others for allegedly defying CrPC Section 144, which bans assembly of four or more people, during the lockdown, police said on Wednesday.

The MLA led a protest near Nai Basti area of Satna in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, in violation of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the lockdown enforced in the district, police inspector Mohit Saxena said.

Details of the protest that Kushwaha led were not immediately known.

"We have booked eight persons, including Kushwaha, under relevant provisions of the India Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act," the police official said.

Efforts were on to identify others involved in the protest, he said.

Indore, Apr 8 (PTI) The number of deaths due to

coronavirus infection has risen to 16 in Indore in Madhya Pradesh with a 49-year-old man becoming the latest fatality, an official said on Wednesday.

The man, who was tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24, succumbed to the infection while undergoing treatment at a private hospital on Tuesday evening, said the official of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College.

Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Prdesh, has so far reported 173 COVID-19 cases with 16 deaths while eleven people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery.