Coronavirus: Saudi arrests 34 for breaking strict curfew order

Security authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested 34 people for breaking the kingdom’s strict coronavirus curfew order.

Riyadh Police detained two citizens who were captured on video violating the curfew, driving recklessly in a residential neighbourhood and causing panic by firing gunshots in the air.

Another man was arrested for using insulting words against residents of a governorate, while a man from the displaced tribes was apprehended after driving a vehicle without number plates and boasting about his exit during curfew.

According to a report by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Asir Police were able to identify and arrest a female citizen after she appeared in a video, driving her vehicle during the curfew hours.

Security authorities in the Qassim Region arrested a number of delivery representatives from electronic applications who were transporting people inside their vehicles and trying to hide them while passing through checkpoints, and also seized three residents of Bangladeshi nationality who brought a barber to their home.

Jazan Police seized residents of Pakistani nationality who prepared their residence place for shaving after suspending barber shops activity in all regions, and arrested two residents of Yemeni nationality who violated the curfew and went out during the time of the ban by hiding one of them inside a carton and the other documenting that.

In the Eastern Region, a citizen who documented his violation of the curfew order, boasting about it and inciting residents of Hafar Al-Batin to do the same, was arrested.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman first ordered the curfew on March 23, from 7pm to 6am, and was initially set to run for 21 days, but was extended “until further notice” last week.

There are currently 8,274 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the kingdom and 92 reported deaths.