Puri police station staff put in quarantine after accused tests COVID-19 positive

BHUBANESWAR/PURI: The staff of Kumbharpara police station were put under quarantine on Sunday after a person arrested in a robbery case was found to be COVID-19 positive on Sunday. He is the first prisoner in the State to test positive for the deadly virus.

Puri SP Umashankar Dash said six staffers of the police station have come in contact with the patient. However, all the 30 police personnel, including the IIC, have been instructed to go for isolation. Their swab samples will be collected for tests on Monday.

The accused is a habitual offender and was arrested on Friday in connection with a robbery case. At least four cases were registered against the accused, who is a native of Kumbharapara. He was produced in SDJM court in Puri on Saturday and sent to jail.

Sources said the accused may have got infected after coming in contact with a COVID-19 positive patient. He was asymptomatic before testing positive. The SP said the court room will be sanitised and the staff involved in this case may have to be put in quarantine. The police personnel who escorted the accused to the court would be identified and tested. Besides, the two accused who went to jail along with the patient and prison staff will be tested. Contact tracing of the patient is on, Dash added.

Jailor of Puri district jail Dilip Jena said the accused came in the court van along with two others. While he was kept in isolation, the other two were put up in separate rooms of the jail. As per the Directorate of Prisons and Correctional Services, the accused has been kept in isolation in a separate cell on the jail premises. He would be sent to COVID hospital on Monday morning. Deputy SP Khirasagar Naik said new personnel would be given temporary charge of Kumbharapara police station.