3 cops die, Mumbai Police toll touches 37

Three personnel from the Mumbai Police died of Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the toll of the city police force to 37. The toll of the state police force is 57.

Three personnel from the Mumbai Police died of Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the toll of the city police force to 37. The toll of the state police force is 57.

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Naval Bajaj, joint commissioner of police (administration), confirmed the development to HT.

In the past two weeks, 15 personnel have succumbed to the disease in Mumbai, including four deaths reported on June 13.

Of the four deceased police personnel, one was an assistant sub-inspector attached to Marine Drive police station. He was undergoing treatment at SevenHills Hospital, Andheri since June 14. He died on Thursday.

In the second case, a head constable of Dadar police station, aged 54, died at Hinduja Hospital. He was suffering from hypertension and was battling Covid-19 since May 25, said Viresh Prabhu, additional commissioner of police (Central region).

Another 54-year-old constable attached to Samta Nagar police station succumbed to the disease the same morning. Raju Kasbe, senior inspector from Samta Nagar police station said, “He was on leave since June 13 and he started facing health issues on June 19. After he tested positive, he was admitted to Gurunanak Hospital, Bandra (East) on June 22. He felt better on Wednesday but his health condition worsened on Thursday and he succumbed around 7am.”

The constable is survived by his wife, son, daughter-in-law and a daughter.

The police department said they are yet to ascertain how the three cops contracted the virus.

So far, 2,550 policemen from the city police force tested positive for Covid-19. Around 1,750 of them have recovered completely, Bajaj said. In Maharashtra Police, including Mumbai, more than 4,100 policemen have been infected, of whom nearly 3,000 have recovered. Of the 37 deaths of policemen in Mumbai, more than 80% are aged above 50, said a police source.

Senior police officers believe that quicker response, setting up four dedicated Covid care centres, raising awareness about sanitisation among cops, strictly following social distancing norms and providing financial and moral support to policemen are some of the key measures for the speedy recovery of policemen.

A senior IPS officer, however, said despite all these efforts deaths are continuing unabated and added that while drugs like Remdesivir or Tocilizumab are unavailable to most patients, the department put in extra efforts and arranged for it for the patients.