2 more Delhi cops test Covid-positive, 28 personnel now infected in Capital

One of the officers is posted with the police’s crime branch at its office in north Delhi’s Kotwali, and the other is attached with the anti-terror special cell office in Lodhi Colony.

Two more Delhi Police officers tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Thursday, taking the total number of infected personnel in the city to 28. Both the personnel are assistant sub-inspectors (ASI) in different wings of the Delhi police force, and were asymptomatic. They have now been sent to separate quarantine centres in the city. The rising number of cases among police officers in the city highlights the dangers frontline workers are exposed to, in the fight against the contagious disease.

The rising number of cases among police officers in the city highlights the dangers frontline workers are exposed to, in the fight against the contagious disease. (RAJ K RAJ/HT PHOTO)

One of the officers is posted with the police’s crime branch at its office in north Delhi’s Kotwali. The other is attached with the anti-terror special cell office in Lodhi Colony, where a head constable had tested positive for the disease on Sunday. As many as 72 personnel of the office were sent to self quarantine on Tuesday, and all personnel at the office were also asked to get themselves tested.

The head constable had been admitted to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital on April 11 after displaying flu-like symptoms.

Of the 28 Delhi Police personnel infected with Covid-19, 12 are from Nabi Karim and Chandni Mahal police stations in central Delhi, and six from the Jahangirpuri police station, who tested positive on Tuesday. All three police stations are among the 89 neighbourhoods in the city that have been declared “containment”or red zones.

Residents of these zones are not allowed to step out of their houses, and authorities deliver essential items to doorsteps. Entries and exits to and from these neighbourhood are restricted as well, and pickets are continuously guarded by police personnel.

A senior special cell officer said their ASI was not among the 72 who are in self-quarantine, as he had not been visiting the office regularly.

“The ASI informed us that he has tested positive for the virus. He has now been shifted to a quarantine centre. His family members, who live in northeast Delhi’s Babarpur, are now in home quarantine. His contacts are being traced to ascertain whom he contracted the infection from,” the special cell officer said.

In the other case, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rajan Bhagat said the ASI lives in a Shahdara neighbourhood that has already been designated a containment zone.

“The ASI was off duty, since his residential area was declared a containment zone. His family members are in home quarantine, and he has been shifted to a quarantine centre. Three personnel who worked with him in the Kotwali office have been screened, and have tested negative,” Bhagat said.

Of the 28 Delhi Police personnel found positive so far in the city, an assistant sub-inspector in the traffic police, who was the first to be diagnosed, was discharged from hospital last Friday.