Kanpur, Apr 22 (IANS): Instead of wielding the stick, the police are now resorting to 'Gandhigiri' of sorts.

In Kanpur, the Kidwai Nagar police has hit upon a new idea to make people realize their folly if they violate the lockdown.

The cops, on Wednesday morning, stood at the Juhi Gaushala crossing in Kidwai Nagar and performed 'aarti' of about two dozen people who were strolling on the road in violation of the lockdown rules.

The cops performed the 'aarti' amidst chanting of 'mantras' and then showered flower petals on the violators. They even gave a banana as 'prasad' to the wrongdoers.

The exercise adequately shamed the people, some of whom were seen apologizing to the cops and promising not to repeat the mistakes.

Kidwai Nagar Inspector, Dhanesh, said, "We do not want to beat anyone but people do not realize how important it is to stay at home at this time. We hit upon this idea with the belief that they would realize their mistake."