CRPF jawans stranded in green zones told to report to duty

Ranchi: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Saturday said it will recall its personnel and deploy them for anti-Maoist operations. Many jawans of the paramilitary force are on leave and stranded in various parts of Bihar and Jharkhand ever since the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 25.
CRPF (Jharkhand-Bihar zone) IG Rajkumar on Saturday said soon after the lockdown came into force, the jawans were ordered to stay put wherever they are as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. He added, “As the lockdown is continuing, we have decided to recall the personnel stranded in green zones in Bihar and Jharkhand after May 17. A significant number of them are in green zones in the two states.”
CRPF has created a quarantine unit at each of its battalion centre for the returning jawans. The quarantine centre at Ranchi has 75 beds and will cater to those reporting to the force’s state headquarters and the battalion here. Rajkumar said the returning jawans will be put under 14-day quarantine at their respective battalion and their health will be closely monitored.
“The quarantine units have a separate mess and toilets. The norms of segregation and social distancing will be observed here. The body temperature of jawans will be monitored and they will join anti-extremist operations after getting a certificate from the district health authority,” he said.
Meanwhile, CRPF will also replace its two companies posted at the containment zone of Hindpiri in Ranchi and one company has arrived in the city to take charge. The jawans withdrawn from Hindpiri will also be put under quarantine for 14 days. CRPF was deployed in the locality on April 28 to enforce the lockdown after many instances of violations were reported from the area.