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Three Ludhiana cops testing Covid-19 positive sends ripples in police department
Police flats in Sarabha Nagar and Basti Jodhewal police station sanitised; all station staff placed under quarantine after SHO, her driver confirmed positive
The news of four contacts of ACP Anil Kumar Kohli testing positive for Covid-19 sent the police department in a tizzy on Friday, prompting it to place the entire staff of Basti Jodhewal police station under home quarantine.
Among the four patients are three cops – Basti Jodhewal SHO sub-inspector Arshpreet Kaur, her driver ASI Sukhdev Singh and ACP Kohli’s driver constable Prabhjot Singh.
Residents of the police flats near Sarabha Nagar police station were left jittery after SI Arshpreet, who lives there, tested positive. Disinfection was promptly carried out at the flats, while the Basti Jodhewal station was sanitised twice.
The SI has no travel history, but she was deputed at the vegetable market, along with ACP Kohli and other cops. She was also part of the team tracing Tablighi Jamaat members, who had attended the Markaz event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.
District mandi officer (DMO) Jasbir Kaur, the fifth confirmed patient on Friday, had attended many meetings with ACP Kohli, besides others with deputy commissioner Pardeep Agrawal, commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal and cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu.
ROW OVER QUARANTINED COPS BEING SENT TO NATIVES
Placed under quarantine at their government quarters on Club Road, four security personnel, two readers and the driver of ACP Kohli were asked by their neighbours to return to their home towns.
Following objections by the residents, who are also police staff, the cops left for their natives in Khanna, Moga, Ferozepur and Sangrur, inviting controversy for the police department.
Panchayat of Chowas Jakhepal village in Sangrur took exception to the police personnel being made to travel when they were supposed to be in quarantine. The Sangrur health department also wrote to the Ludhiana police commissionerate objecting to the decision.
Ludhiana commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal said the cops attached with ACP Kohli were sent to their home towns following protocol. They were informed about the precautions to be taken and quarantine notices had been pasted outside their houses.
The police chief said all police personnel were asymptomatic, and hence been placed only under home quarantine. “They will receive better care back home,” he added.
PANIC GRIPS COMMISSION AGENTS
Panic gripped commission agents at the vegetable and grain markets of the city as they had been conducting meetings with DMO Jasbir Kaur for issuance of wheat procurement coupons for farmers and making other arrangements at the markets.
President of the Sabzi Mandi Ahrtiya Association, Gurkamal Singh, said several agents and other workers left the markets as soon as the DMO’s news spread. He said thermal scanning should start at the entry point of the market and the area should be properly disinfected.
Market committee chairman Darshan Lal Baweja said the markets will remain open, and he had sought a substitute for the DMO from the Punjab Mandi Board. No other board officials were quarantined in Ludhiana, he added.
