26 new cases in Haryana, biggest single-day spike
Gunmen attached with chief principal secretary to the CM, advocate general Atul Nanda, DGP Mohd Mustafa also cut down temporarily
CHANDIGARH: The number of Covid-19 cases in Haryana rose by 26 on Saturday, taking the total count of positive cases to 70.
Senior officials of the health department said that 21 persons who had attended the religious event at Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month had tested positive include 13 in Palwal besides two in Bhiwani and five in Faridabad. One positive case was reported in Kaithal. They said that all had been quarantined in their respective districts. Of the remaining five fresh cases, two persons who tested positive were in Gurugram and had come from Agra on Saturday and three persons in
Faridabad, who were also other than five persons who had attended the meet in Nizamuddin, the officials said..
8 TEST +VE IN PUNJAB
Eight persons were tested positive for novel coronavirus in Punjab on Saturday, taking the total count of those infected by the disease in the state to 65.
In Amritsar, three family members of Bhai Nirmal Singh’s 58-year-0ld associate were tested positive for Covid-19. In Mohali, two women residents of Sector 91 tested positive. A 42-year-old panch of Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi was also found to be infected. A 35-year-old foreign money exchanger and a 75-yearold woman in Pathankot also tested positive.
CHANDIGARH: Days after pruning the security of VIPs, the Punjab Police on Saturday cut down gunmen and other staff attached with top cops, government functionaries and Punjab and Haryana high court judges. The security personnel will now be give law and order duties during curfew imposed in Punjab following coronavirus outbreak.
Punjab was the first state to clamp curfew on March 23, a day before Prime Minister announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown to fight coronavirus. On March 31, Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh ordered to extend the curfew till April 14.
Around 400 cops deployed on different duties with top officials and functionaries have been withdrawn immediately and have been deployed at their original postings.
Those who face security cut include chief principal secretary to the CM Suresh Kumar (3 gunmen withdrawn), advocate general Atul Nanda (7), DGP human rights Mohammad Mustafa (9), special DGP (crime) Prabodh Kumar (3), chief director, vigilance and anti-corruption bureau and ADGP BK Uppal (11).
Almost the entire top brass of the police, including those in the rank of DGP, IG, DIG, whose postings do not require field visits during present conditions, have faced a cut in staff from one cop to five. Retired DGP-rank officials, including Suresh Arora (4), Paramdeep Singh Gill (17),
SK Sharma (5) and Rajinder Singh (4), are also in the list.
The orders from the headquarters say “the staff attached with the cops has been withdrawn temporarily till further orders”.
The list also included four senior judges of the Punjab and Haryana high court and some advocates working with the state government. “After CM Amarinder himself offered the DGP to have cut in his security to put cops on duties related to curfew and food distribution across the state, pruning of senior police officials’ staff was also necessary. If need be, more staff deployed at police headquarters will be cut,” a senior police official said.
A government spokesperson has recently said a significant number of personnel from the CM’s were withdrawn to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.
Many senior cops are not taking their staff along with them due to the virus threat, and putting them on field duties was a good idea as they all were sitting idle, said a top official. In the first phase on March 31, DGP Dinkar Gupta had ordered to have cut in security of district and sessions court judges, IAS officers, senior police officers, and some politicians. The personnel deployed with MLAs, MPs and ministers were not touched as yet.
400 COPS DEPLOYED WITH OFFICIALS PULLED OUT IMMEDIATELY, SENT TO THEIR ORIGINAL POSTINGS