Cops take to cooking, cleaning and washing to protect families

Soumitra Bose | TNN | Apr 30, 2020, 04:40 IST

Nagpur: While most cops resort to washing their own clothes after returning home from their lockdown duties, some of them also have to cook and clean, too, as they had already ensured that their families were sent away to protect them from contracting any disease.
After strenuous duties of around 12 hours or more on the roads, hospitals, quarantine facilities and other places, many cops nowadays have to spend another couple of hours at home after returning exhausted to wash their uniforms, clean the place, utensils, cook and complete other domestic chores as they have opted to live alone rather than with their families.
Though the statistics of the Mumbai police personnel found Covid-19 positive touched 100, including three deaths, the city cops have not taken a back seat fearing contracting the disease, but they have devised plans to fiercely shield their wives, children and rest of the family from being harmed for being in their proximity.
Lakadganj police station’s sub-inspector Sandeep Kale had sent his pregnant wife to her mother’s place in Aurangabad by car, around 600km away, as soon as the lockdown was declared. “I knew that now my duty would be on the road, sensitive places and also among the crowd and so did not want my wife and her health to get affected which would have also traumatized the baby,” he said.
“Today, I maintain my home and also look after my own needs by cooking, cleaning and washing after coming back. I have no complaints,” said the officer.
Crime branch’s constable Shyam Gorle claimed to have mastered the art of preparing tasty and healthy khichdi for himself at home as he too sent his family to his native place in Khairi after the lockdown. “It becomes very difficult to prepare an elaborate meal with a jaded body after working under the sun for 12 hours,” he said.
“I make a simple khichdi and other easy-to-cook recipes because there are other domestic chores too which I need to attend to at the same time,” he said.
Senior inspector Anil Takshande, a father of two, keeps his cap and belt in the car. “The uniform is dipped in the warm and detergent-mixed water kept outside the rooms. Later, I rush to the bathroom for a wash,” said Takshande who was on duty outside Covid-19 wards.
Senior inspector Narendra Hiware of Lakadganj police station, whose jurisdiction includes the Covid epicentre of Satranjipura, said he had never washed his tiffin boxes ever but he does it now after returning from his high-risk job to shield his family from contracting any disease. “I dip my clothes in warm water kept outside, clean my tiffin box, take a shower and then step inside the house,” he said.
Senior PI Jayesh Bhandarkar of Tehsil police station said he first enters a separate chamber outside the room to change after returning from work.
Assistant PI Keshav Wagh, father of a three-year-old daughter, said his primary concern is his family which may get affected due to him. “I clean my shoes with sanitized paper and after that, I keep them on the terrace,” he said.