Cop dies of coronavirus, first death in Delhi Police

The Delhi Police constable was from Sonepat of Haryana, where his wife and three-year-old son live. He was posted at the Bharat Nagar police station and primarily worked with the crime records unit.

A 31-year-old constable posted at the Bharat Nagar police station in north-west Delhi died of Covid-19 on Tuesday evening. This is the first coronavirus death among city police personnel. So far, at least three dozen personnel have tested positive for Covid-19.

Police personnel stand guard outside Kalyanpuri police station after a coronavirus positive case was found during the ongoing nationwide lockdown. (PTI)

He had tested positive at a private lab, prior to his death and a sample from the corpse has been sent to a government lab for confirmation.

“He was tested for Covid-19 by a private lab on Tuesday, before his death. The test result that arrived on Wednesday revealed that he was Covid-19 positive. We are awaiting the results from RML Hospital, which carried out a test after his death,” said a senior police officer.

The constable was from Sonepat of Haryana, where his wife and three-year-old son live. He was posted at the Bharat Nagar police station and primarily worked with the crime records unit.

“He lived with a friend in a rented flat on the fifth floor of a building in Gandhi Nagar, a neighbourhood close to Bharat Nagar. His duty did not involve active interaction with his colleagues or frequent visits to the police station. He did not live in the police barracks or eat in the common mess,” the senior officer said.

Around 2am on Tuesday, he woke up from sleep and complained of breathing trouble. “His friend got him warm water to drink and inhale. When his condition did not improve, we took him to Dr Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini in the morning. He waited there for nearly three hours, but was neither admitted nor examined for Covid-19,” one of his colleagues, who did not wish to be named, said.

A senior administrator of Ambedkar Hospital said that the question of Kumar’s admission to the hospital did not arise as it is a non-Covid hospital.

He was then taken to the Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital by his colleagues. “Here, he was examined by doctors and given medication,” stated a brief statement released by the police before his test result arrived.

He was taken to a testing centre in Ashok Vihar, where his sample was collected, and returned home. “In the evening, he again complained of discomfort upon which he was immediately sent to Lok Nayak Hospital, where he was declared brought dead,” the police statement said.

On Wednesday, an audio clip, of a purported conversation among two personnel of the Bharat Nagar station, was circulated on WhatsApp. In the recording, one of the persons was heard saying that the police, despite leaving behind their families to do their duty, were not being cared for.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip.

Manish Agarwal, the joint commissioner of police (northern range), said that the Bharat Nagar police station in-charge had acted promptly on getting to know of the constable’s poor health. Agrawal said that the station house officer had decided he should be rushed to RML Hospital and had called up the hospital authorities, requesting that he is attended to.

At the Bharat Nagar police station, meanwhile, the personnel have begun the process of tracing his contacts to get them tested and quarantine them. “While we believe he interacted with few staff members, we are following the standard operating procedure to trace his contacts,” said another officer.

Delhi Police commissioner, SN Shrivastava, on Wednesday evening tweeted his condolences. “The sudden demise of late Constable Amit Kumar from PS Bharat Nagar has saddened the police fraternity. We stand by his family in this hour of grief and pray to the almighty to provide strength to bear this loss. All assistance to his family will be provided,” he tweeted.