When many others were lighting candles and lamps on Sunday night to respond to the call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior Uttar Pradesh BJP leader fired a flurry of shots in the air to "scare" the coronavirus.

Manju Tiwari, the president of the saffron party's women's wing in Balrampur district, about 200 kilometres from Lucknow, not only fired shots in the air but also uploaded the photographs on social media.

''Deep jalane ke baad coronavirus ko bhagate hue'' (shooing away the coronavirus after lighting the lamps), she wrote below her pictures posted on her Facebook page.

कानून तोड़ने में सबसे ज्यादा आगे भाजपा नेता ही रहते हैं। कल पीएम की अपील थी दिया जलाने की लेकिन देखिए कैसे भाजपा नेता व बलरामपुर भाजपा महिला मोर्चा की अध्यक्ष ने खुलेआम प्रदर्शन के लिए फायरिंग की और वीडियो फेसबुक पर डाला।

योगी आदित्यनाथ इस पर कार्यवाही करेंगे क्या? pic.twitter.com/W9IioUsYXh — UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) April 6, 2020

As the pictures of the saffron leader firing the shots went viral on the social media, she tendered an apology in an apparent way to wriggle out of the controversy.

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According to the sources, Tiwari had fired from a licensed pistol, which belonged to her husband.

While it is not known whether the coronavirus has fled from Balrampur, she did succeed in scaring many of her neighbours, who ran helter-skelter for safety.

A case has been registered against her and the investigation is ongoing, police sources said on Monday. ''It is a highly irresponsible act...action will be taken against her,'' said a senior police official in Balrampur.

Earlier, many other saffron party leaders had recommended their own remedies to get rid of the coronavirus. Their remedies included having cow shelters, using cloves and establishing 'Ram Raj' (Lord Rama's rule).