High drama on Rajdhani Express: couple escaping quarantine held
UP family fled Vikarabad facility, was made to detrain at Kazipet
A couple returning home from Indonesia escaped a quarantine centre at Vikarabad and boarded the Rajdhani express only to be identified and made to get off the train at Kazipet on Saturday.
The couple from UP was returning from Bali, Indonesia. They landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad late on Friday night and, following procedure, underwent thermal screening and were taken to the quarantine centre in Vikarabad.
They were advised by the doctors to remain in isolation till April 5. Unwilling to remain isolated, the couple somehow escaped from the facility and boarded the Hazrat Nizamuddinbound Rajdhani express at Secunderabad on Saturday morning.
However, the quarantine stamps on their hands gave them away. The TC in the train noticed their stamps and confronted them. Not receiving a reasonable answer from them, he alerted the higher officials. By that time, the train has already left Secunderabad. The medical officials advised the couple to get off at the Kazipet station which is near the MGM hospital in Warangal.
Medical officials in Warangal were alerted about the arrival of the couple. An ambulance and a medical team were ready by the time the train arrived. The couple was immediately made to wear protective suits and shifted to the MGM hospital. The superintendent of the hospital, Dr. B. Srinivas Rao, said the couple were brought to the MGM Hospital and after preliminary tests were taken to the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
All the passengers travelling with the couple in Coach B3 were made to move to other coaches. After the couple got off the train, the coach was sanitised before the train continued its journey. The train halted at Kazipet for close to one hour and the passengers were left anxious about their own health.