3 policemen suspended for lying to evade duty amid Covid-19 outbreak

Senior officers said, once caught, the constables confessed that they were scared of catching the infection while on duty and therefore made the excuse to evade duty amid the pandemic.

Three Delhi police constables, who were on duty at Shastri Park metro police station, were suspended on Thursday after they allegedly lied that they had come in contact with a policeman who had tested positive for Covid-19 and therefore should be sent into home quarantine.

Meanwhile, four more Delhi police personnel tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, taking the total number of infected policemen to 40. (Sanjeev Verma/HT file photo. Representative image)

Senior officers said, once caught, the constables confessed that they were scared of catching the infection while on duty and therefore made the excuse to evade duty amid the pandemic. Their suspension is yet to be revoked, police said.

A senior officer said that on Wednesday, the three constables had informed the east district control room that they had worked closely with a sub-inspector, who allegedly later tested positive for the virus. “When officials from the control room checked with their police station in Shastri Park, it was found that they were lying and that they had cooked up the story. The matter was then reported to senior officers,” said a police officer, who did not wish to be named.

Deputy commissioner of police (railways) Harendra Kumar Singh said when the three constables were caught lying, they said they were apprehensive about going to field duty amid the virus outbreak. “As a disciplinary action, they were all suspended from their duties. Their suspension is yet to be revoked,” the DCP said.

Meanwhile, four more Delhi police personnel tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, taking the total number of infected policemen to 40.

Two of them - a head constable and a constable — are members of Delhi Police’s crime branch, which is probing Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and his associates in connection with the religious congregation in a six-storey building in the Nizamuddin area in March, in violation of government orders. The policemen were sent to isolation and are under treatment. Their family members have been asked to quarantine themselves at home, said a senior officer who did not wish to be named.

The two others, both constables, who were also tested positive on Friday are from Khajoori Khas police station. The two men were living in the police station barracks with four other constables from the reserve force. The police are now getting the other four also tested for coronavirus.

On Thursday, a Delhi Police sub-inspector from Amar Colony police station — whose duty was at Okhla Mandi — had also tested positive for Covid-19.

Of the total 38 police personnel infected with the virus so far, five have already recovered and have been discharged from quarantine facilities they were admitted to.

The five discharged policemen include three constables from the Chandni Mahal police station, one assistant sub-inspector (ASI) from the traffic police unit and his batchmate, who was deployed at the AIIMS Trauma Centre police post.