The district administration of Chamarajanagar — which has been a green zone so far — went into a tizzy after it realised that a head constable from Bengaluru, who visited his in-laws’ house in Belathuru village of Hanur taluk in the district on Monday, had tested positive for COVID-19.
After giving a sample of his swab for the random tests conducted among police personnel in Bengaluru, but before the results were announced, the head constable, attached to Begur police station, left for Belathuru, situated around 5 km from Hanur, early on Monday. He went with his wife and daughter in his private car. “He reached Belathuru by 10.15 a.m. But the same evening, he received a call from Bengaluru informing him that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Immediately, he rushed back to Bengaluru with his wife and daughter,” said a district official.
Chamarajanagar has not reported even a single COVID-19 case so far. The district administration moved swiftly and by Tuesday evening a total of 18 persons were taken into institutional quarantine at the B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan in Chamarajanagar town.
Deputy Commissioner M.R. Ravi, who briefed reporters on Tuesday, said he has written to the Director-General of Police in Bengaluru seeking action against the policeman for allegedly violating quarantine. Mr. Ravi argued that police personnel tested for COVID-19 should have self-quarantined till the results came out.
It was not immediately known whether the head constable, who was on leave, had obtained a pass to travel from Bengaluru to Chamarajanagar. “But he had flashed his identity card at the check-post to pass through,” an official said.
The head constable had taken the highway passing through Sathegalla check-post. The Chamarajanagar administration will be quarantining all the personnel who were manning the check-post on Monday.
All those in the house of the head constable’s in-laws, besides the neighbours who had come in contact with him, have been quarantined. While four of them are aged below 10, at least three are 60 or more.
