Delhi: 42 cops died due to Covid-19 in second wave

Earlier this week, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava reviewed the status of all the benefits provided by the police department to the families of the 77 police personnel. Special Commissioner of Police Sivagami Sundari Nanda assured the police chief they were coordinating with the families and providing assistance to them.

“Nanda informed Shrivastava that 13 families have requested funds for higher education of their children and one family has requested for a marriage loan. While 10 families have requested for retention of government flats, five families have requested for immediate financial help. Among the five families which sought financial aid, in one, two sons of the cop lost their jobs during the pandemic, and in the other four, there is no earning source. No benefit from the department has been received by them till date,” an officer said.

At 615, the maximum number of cases have been reported from the Police Control Room (PCR) unit, while 542 cases have been reported from the security unit and 350 from the traffic unit, the officer said.

The PCR unit has the maximum number of police personnel — around 8,000 — who are first responders to any distress calls.

While giving a break-up of the security unit, where 542 cases have been reported, the officer said around 145 cases were reported from personnel posted at the L-G’s house, CM’s house, Vidhan Sabha, and PSOs posted with protected persons. From the Prime Minister’s security wing, 65 cases have been reported.

Sharing district-wise details, the officer said, “The maximum number of cases (253) were reported from North-West, 235 from Rohini district, 210 from Dwarka, 200 from South-West, and 198 from Outer-North district. The lowest number of cases (137) were reported from the South-East district, 151 from South, and 155 cases from the East district.”

Apart from the districts, 227 cases were reported from the training school, 198 cases from the Crime Branch, 175 from communication, 145 cases from the Special Cell, and 79 cases from the security unit of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, police said.

In several meetings, police chief Shrivastava has emphasised that every police colony and building has to be sanitised. Recently, he held a meeting with senior officers on the Covid-19 strategy and raised concerns about the rising cases among police personnel.

Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal had said, “Delhi Police is a highly welfare oriented force and takes care of its personnel in the best possible manner… Apart from helping to get hospital beds and oxygen cylinders, we have constructed two fully functional Covid care centres in Shahdara and Rohini. We have decided to open care centres in view of the freshly rising incidents of Covid infection among Delhi Police personnel, who are frontline warriors in the battle against coronavirus.”