Bhubaneswar: The Covid-19 pandemic has become a major headache for the Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar as many its officials at various police stations were tested positive for the deadly virus.
This apart, the rising incidents of loot and snatching in the Capital City have further added to the woes of the Commissionerate Police, sources said.
According to sources, around 30 officials of the Commissionerate Police were tested positive for Covid-19 in recent past. The officials of Nayapalli, Capital, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Chandrsekharpur police stations are most vulnerable to Covid-19 infections as several slums are coming under their jurisdictions.
These officials usually deal with slum dwellers who very often rush to the police stations to lodge complaints over petty and trivial issues.
At least nine personnel of Capital police station were tested positive for novel coronavirus recently while many other officials including the inspectors in-charge (IICs) are now in home quarantine.
Similarly, nine personnel of Nayapalli police station including three officers were tested positive for Covid-19. However, a few other personnel of the police station are quite reluctant to go for Covid-19 testing even though they have fever and some other symptoms similar to the Covid-19 infections, sources claimed.
Moreover, an official of the GRP police station here was also tested positive for Covid-19 recently. At least eight police personnel have recovered from the Covid-19 infections while others are undergoing treatment.
It is learnt that most of the police officials are reluctant to wear PPE kits supplied to them by their respective stations. Besides, some IICs are deploying officials above 55 years of age to enforce lockdown and other Covid-19 restrictions in violation of the direction of Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Umashankar Dash said, “Steps are being taken for the normal functioning of police stations in city. The police officials have been asked to wear PPE kits while on duty.”
