10 Telangana special police of Bhadradri-Kothagudem test COVID +Ve

Hyderabad: More than 10 personnel from the 12th Battalion of the Telangana State Special Police (TSSP) in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. They were earlier deployed for security at the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s camp office Pragati Bhavan in Hyderabad, sources said.

After completing their duties in Hyderabad, they had reported to the Battalion, after which they were tested. All of them are asymptomatic cases and placed under isolation in the battalion barracks. Earlier, four employees working at Pragati Bhavan tested positive for Covid-19.

According to reports, an ACP rank officer working in the Hyderabad city police limits is also learnt to have tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. A week ago, around 11 of the Telangana State Special Police(TSSP) undergoing training at the TSSP Battalion-I at Yousufguda in the city tested positive for Covid-19. According to sources, all the cadets are showing mild symptoms and have been placed under isolation on the Battalion premises.

Meanwhile, three senior IPS officers from Hyderabad, who tested positive before reported to duty after recovering. Around 20 odd personnel from Banjara Hills police station, that has seen the highest number of cases in a police station in Telangana, also reported working after recovery. All these recovered persons were welcomed back to duties by Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar, a few days ago.

10,893 Indian police personnel test positive for Covid-19: Report

After the outbreak of the pandemic, as many as 10,893 police personnel have been infected with Covid-19, including the police and CRPF.

Over 12,152 police personnel have been in quarantine/ self-isolation and as of today, 97 have succumbed to the disease. Maharashtra which has a force strength of 2,13,382 has the highest rate of positive cases with over 4,743 testings positive and 59 succumbing to the infection followed by Tamil Nadu where 1,511 police tested positive.

On comparing the data of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it was found that 46 police personnel of Andhra Pradesh which has a force strength of 61,168, tested positive for the virus while one cop succumbed to it.

In Telangana, over 200 of the total 53,115 police personnel in the state tested positive. Even in TS, one cop succumbed to the infection. A 37-year-old constable died after testing positive for Covid-19. From Hyderabad alone, a woman officer of Additional DG rank and two other officers of Additional DG and Joint Commissioner rank were tested COVID positive. Most of them have been engaged in tracing COVID positive and their primary contacts in April 2020. Also, the most affected are constable and sub-inspector in level officers.