Around a dozen persons were arrested in Moradabad on Wednesday after a crowd attacked health department officials who went to take samples for COVID-19 in the Nawabpura area of Nagpahani town of the district, police said.
The area was declared a hotspot after a man from the area succumbed to coronavirus on April 13.
According to a health department official a team led by a doctor went to take the samples of family members of the COVID-19 victim and to take his brother, who had become symptomatic, to institutional quarantine.
However, suddenly a crowd stopped the ambulance and pelted them with stones. “The miscreants illegally confined doctor H.C. Mishra while a technician was seriously injured. The PPE suits of the team members were torn off. The four policemen who went with the team had to retreat. One of them was injured,” the official said.
A police team led by Superintendent of Police Amit Anand had to rush with a local cleric to restore normalcy. Mr Anand told reporters that strong action would be taken against the miscreants.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh governemnt said NSA will be slapped against the culprits in the Moradabad case and the damages recovered from them.
Local sources said the situation was still tense in the area.