Caught red handed? Peru mayor plays dead to escape arrest after flouting lockdown rules

A picture of Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres – the mayor of a small town in Peru called Tantara – playing dead to escape arrest, has gone viral on social media.

The picture of Torres lying in a coffin was clicked by one of the police personnel who had arrived at his residence last week to arrest him for flouting lockdown rules and going out drinking with his friends.

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He was reportedly drunk at the time of his arrest too. A Twitter user shared an image of him, claiming the same. The tweet read: "In an inebriated state, Jaime Torres, mayor of Tantará in Huancavelica (Peru), violated social isolation and pretended to avoid arrest."

Jaime Rolando "El Cholo" Urbina Torres, alcalde de Tantará en Huancavelica (Perú), envalentonado por el alcohol, violó es aislamiento social por la pandemia y fingió estar muerto para no ser arrestado por la Policía. href="https://t.co/Ur7coPDdhA">pic.twitter.com/Ur7coPDdhA

— Carlos Alberto Cardozo Cardozo (@Cabezaborrador) May 21, 2020

Acalde de Tantará, en la región de Perú, en el marco de la pandemia #COVID_19 que azota al #país. Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres se introdujo en un ataúd, con los ojos cerrados, para evitar ser detenido por la #Policia. El lunes salió a beber este personaje #VenezuelaVictoriosa pic.twitter.com/Eh1fekLUZ5

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— joel (@Joelochoa73) May 21, 2020

The incident came to light at a time when Torres is already being criticised for absenteeism from public works and shrugging off responsibility amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Peru has recorded 1,29,751 coronavirus positive cases so far, including 3,788 deaths. The country has been under lockdown for the past 66 days.

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