BAGALKOT /VIJAYAPURA: What’S scarier — the coronavirus? Or dacoits? Or dacoits with the virus? It’s Catch-22 for cops on the duty frontline, with two alleged dacoits testing positive in Vijayapura, after they were remanded in judicial custody.
Immediately, 14 police personnel, including two sub-inspectors, the judge and legal staff at the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court of Sindagi were placed under quarantine. The police had arrested three dacoits in connection with a case reported in Almel police station jurisdiction, on June 17.
The trio was put through a medical test, and their throat swab samples were collected before they were presented in court the same day. On June 20, test results of two of the dacoits came positive, and they were moved to hospital from central prison. The health authorities have identified as many as 39 police personnel as primary and secondary contacts.
Throat swab samples were collected from the 14 policemen who were placed under institutional quarantine. The district administration advised the judge and legal staff of the JMFC court of Sindagi to remain in quarantine.
SP Anupam Agarwal told TNIE, "The primary and secondary contacts of the dacoits have been identified, and 39 are from the police department. The three dacoits had been placed in different cells in Central Jail. As soon as two of them tested positive, we moved them to COVID-19 hospitals for treatment. We haven’t sealed down the police station as the infected were found to be asymptomatic," he stated.
A record 39 COVID-19 cases were reported in a single day in Vijayapura. Among them, 28 cases were from containment zones, and 11 cases from rural areas, with Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI). The total number of cases is now 286, with 62 active, 217 cured and 7 deceased in the district.