At least 75 police personnel, including officers-in-charge of two police stations, have been quarantined in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district after a thief, who was arrested on Sunday and now in police custody, tested coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive.
Korra and Sadar police stations in the district have been sealed and declared as contained zones. The public has been barred from entering these infected police stations.
Police said on Sunday a youth was caught snatching money from the cash counter of a shop under Korra police station in Hazaribagh. However, locals caught and handed him over to the police after thrashing him.
The accused was shifted to Sadar police station because of a lack of space at Korra police station’s lock-up.
Rules stipulate that all inmates need to compulsorily undergo the Covid-19 test. The accused was found to have contracted SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, on Tuesday.
Kamal Kishore, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Hazaribagh, said all 75 personnel, including officers-in-charge of Korra and Sadar police stations and the personnel in PCR (police control room) van, who had brought the accused to Sadar police station, have been quarantined.
“All 75 will undergo the Covid-19 test on Friday. At present, 15 are under institutional quarantine and the rest (60) are isolated at their respective homes,” the SDPO said.
{{/usCountry}}“All 75 will undergo the Covid-19 test on Friday. At present, 15 are under institutional quarantine and the rest (60) are isolated at their respective homes,” the SDPO said.
{{/usCountry}}He said the two police stations have been sealed and declared containment zones until further orders.
“Arrangements have been made to submit complaints at drop boxes outside the sealed police stations. PCR authorities will monitor the activities of these two police stations,” he added.
The SDPO said the owner and the staff of the shop, from where the accused was caught, would also undergo the Covid-19 test along with those living in and around the shop.
Hazaribagh district has reported 207 Covid-19 positive cases, including 35 active ones and three deaths, to date.
While in Jharkhand’s Koderma district, 42 police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and officers-in-charge of two police stations, who had raided on an illicit liqour den last Saturday, have been quarantined after an arrested accused tested Covid-19 positive.