Four cops test COVID-19 positive in Bengaluru; cases spread panic among police force

Cops felicitate a police constable after recovering from COVID-19 at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru on Wednesday. DH Photo/Pushkar V

An assistant sub-inspector (ASI), two head constables from the City Market traffic police station, and a constable from Seshadripuram have tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The four policemen are part of the growing list of officers testing positive for coronavirus in the city.

On Tuesday, two ASIs belonging to the VV Puram traffic police station tested positive. The increasing number of positive cases among the police force has made the policemen at the lower rung too scared to attend work.

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The fact that the infected policemen are recovering comes as a great relief to the police force. A head constable from the Hennur police station has recovered and was discharged from the COVID ward of Victoria Hospital on Wednesday.

A senior officer said the three infected policemen from the City Market traffic police station are suspected to have contracted the disease from a trainee constable deployed at the City Market (law and order) police station who tested positive 10 days ago.

The trainee constable used the outpost of the traffic police to take rest and the same was used by the three infected policemen. Soon after the trainee constable tested positive, around seven policemen who used the outpost had been home quarantined. They were tested a week later and three have emerged positive. Twelve policemen in their primary contact have been quarantined in a hotel, the officer added.

The Seshadripuram constable, who stayed at a dormitory in Anand Rao Circle, has been admitted to Bowring Hospital. Twenty-six policemen who stayed in the dormitory have been quarantined in a hotel in Majestic.