FIR against +ve Chembur man footloose in Mumbai
In the first such instance of its kind, civic officials have lodged an FIR against a person for flouting quarantine rules in the M (west) ward, encompassing Chembur and Govandi.
The BMC’s M (west) ward registered an FIR at the Govandi police station against a 52-year-old Chembur resident for flouting the mandatory 14-day quarantine rule despite having tested Covidpositive, on Sunday.
Civic officials have alleged that the patient and his family members did not cooperate with their staff.
According to M (west) ward officials, they received complaints from the Chembur housing society where the positive patient resides, after the 52-year-old was found roaming freely in public despite having tested positive for Covid-19.
Residents of Ganga Estate in Chembur, initially called the ward office to check if the concerned person had tested positive too, considering that the entire family had been tested after their daughter tested positive.
Civic authorities said that initially, his 20-year-old daughter was found positive,
af ter which her parents (accused and his wife), got themselves tested for the virus considering they were high-risk contacts and both were found to be positive.
A day later, some society members reported to the BMC that the man had been seen freely moving about in public.
Elaborating on the case, Dr Bhupendra Patil, medical officer of health (BMC M/W ward), said: “There is a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for patients who have tested positive and have mild symptoms. Af ter the family tested positive, our staff, as per the protocol, called them up and checked on their health. They, in turn, kept insisting they had no severe symptoms. However, the society members informed us that the man was spotted at Chembur Gymkhana and was seen going in and out of the society a couple of times.”
Patil added, “Af ter receiving complaints, when our staff reached their residence, the man’s wife initially informed that everything was fine and they were all at home, observing quarantine. When asked about her husband, she replied he was bathing and he would take a while. It was only when the staff insisted on waiting for him to emerge from the bathroom did they learn he was not at home. The family members did not co-operate with our staff and we had to go ahead and register an FIR against the person. Police have already warned the patient and his family that they need to follow Covid-19 protocol.”
The patient and his family however alleged that the society has a vested interest in complaining against them, Patil informed.
Last week, the M/W ward officials had registered an FIR against the parents of a bride, the groom as well as the organisers of a wedding in Chembur, for violating the state-issued SOP for events and functions, with not more than 50 people in attendance.
Patil said, “This is the first case in which an FIR was registered against a person for flouting the quarantine rules in the ward. The action is part of the stringent containment measures adopted by the BMC af ter the directions issued by the BMC commissioner recently, to act sternly against those not practising Covid-appropriate behaviour in the city.”