Suryapet Deputy Superintendent of Police M. Nageswar Rao literally had his share of the cake. A cool cake which was given to him as a Good Friday gift, in fact, turned things bad for him.
Police sources confirmed to The Hindu that Mr. Rao had accepted a cake from a town resident who was later listed as a primary contact of the Kothagudem vegetable market, the district’s notorious COVID-19 cluster, and also tested positive.
The baker, a 28-year-old resident, out of affection for Mr. Rao, prepared a cake and gifted it to him on Good Friday, April 10. The subsequent day, when the primary contact list was out, the youth was taken to an institutional quarantine centre. On April 13, the diagnosis declared him COVID-19 positive.
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According to a senior police officer, “The baker handed over the cake to the home guard, who later gave it to the DSP. Home guard is the primary contact and DSP is a secondary contact.”
Following the diagnosis reports, the DSP did not report for duty and remained in home quarantine.
Mr. Rao was transferred out of Suryapet on Tuesday and is to report to the Office of the Director-General of Police, and a Special Branch ACP rank officer S. Mohan Rao will be the new DSP.
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Changes were effected in two other important positions in the town "for lax in conduct of the lockdown and for smooth functioning of administration”.
DM&HO Md. Niranjan will be replaced by B. Samba Siva Rao, from Mahabubnagar, also in-charge DM&HO Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri, who is now given full additional charge. Town inspector K. Shiva Shankar was transferred to Nagarkurnool, he will be replaced by A. Anjaneyulu, from the office of the Inspector General of Police of Rachakonda Commissionerate.