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Twenty officials of the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) have been appointed as special police officers to help police in enforcement of Covid-19 safety guidelines.

The Director General of Police has authorised GHIAL officials to enforce the government orders to make sure passengers comply by wearing a mask at the airport at all times. Accordingly, 20 officials of GHIAL were appointed as SPOs.

These special police officers' authority will only be limited to imposing penalty on passengers, visitors and staff who do not follow the Covid-19 safety guidelines within the airport premises.

Station House Officer, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Police Station, Shamshabad and other Cyberabad police officials imparted training to these SPOs. They were trained on the usage of the software and procedure for generating e-challan.

Initially, the Cyberabad Police officials will handhold the GHIAL officials during the enforcement drive thereafter they will work under their overall supervision. The appointment order of the SPOs will be in force from May 1 and stay in force till July 31, said GHIAL.

The Telangana government has started taking stringent measures to fight the pandemic. Night curfew has been imposed in the state and strict enforcement of wearing masks, and maintaining social distance is being implemented by the state police.

With the objective of preventing the spread of Covid-19, the state government also issued the orders of imposing a penalty of Rs 1,000 for not abiding by the Covid protocols.

In view of the shortage of manpower in the Police Department in the face of challenges amidst pandemic, the DGP authorized GHIAL officials to enforce government orders.