A 30-year-old accused in an attempt to murder case, who tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to Victoria Hospital, gave the police a slip and fled on Wednesday morning. The DJ Halli police tracked him down to an area near Sultan Palya around three hours later.
However, they faced yet another challenge of apprehending him. “We couldn’t touch him, as that would mean exposing our men to the infection. We got one of his relatives to the spot, negotiated, created awareness on how not taking treatment could even endanger his life, and he eventually walked into an ambulance himself,” a senior official said.
The accused claimed to have walked to Sultan Palya, near his house as he did not have money. “We are not able to interrogate him to ascertain if he had come in contact with others,” a senior official said.
The accused, a cook, had stabbed a migrant labourer over a monetary dispute on June 18 and was arrested by the police the next day. He was tested for COVID-19 but got the results only on June 23. Though he was asymptomatic, he was taken to Victoria Hospital, from where he escaped on Wednesday.
