Police in firing line of invisible enemy, CM wants action taken

LUCKNOW: A total of 1,246 UP Police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 till July 15 and 10 have died from the consequent complications, according to official data. The state police are now treading with caution, making changes in the offices and the way in which police personnel discharge their daily duties.

The state police chief has also issued fresh guidelines to protect the force from infection.

In a meeting convened on Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked director general of police HC Awasthy to fix responsibility and take action for dereliction in controlling spread of Covid-19 cases in the police force.

The first case was reported on April 26. At present, there are 479 active cases of infection among the UP police personnel.

Most of the cases have been reported from the district police, where there are now 408 active cases. Besides, 291 Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel have tested positive and there are 30 active cases now. Sixty-eight personnel of Government Railway Police (GRP) were also found infected. Forty other cases were reported from home guards and other units.

So far, 15 personnel posted at police headquarters have tested positive for Covid-19 and 13 of them are still under medical supervision as they are active cases.

Considering the rising numbers, director general of police HC Awasthy has issued a fresh circular about precautionary measures.

Awasthi directed all district police chiefs to provide masks, gloves and polycarbonate shields to the personnel on field duty. He asked for proper sanitisation of police vehicles, especially police response vehicles (PRV) of UP112, daily to minimise the risk of personnel getting exposed to the infection. He also directed a proper check on entry of staffers and outsiders at all police stations, outposts, police lines and other offices as well as campuses like reserve police lines, PAC compounds and training centres. He has issued instructions to set-up care centres at all these places.

Abhay Nath Tripathi, PRO of the police headquarters, said the guidelines issued by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were being followed strictly at the police headquarters.

“Police constabulary in all districts have been trained about the precautions they need to take to avoid infection of Covid-19. The police chiefs have also been asked to keep a tab on health of their staff and remain in touch with them,” said a senior police official.