Bengaluru top cop wants treatment centre for police

BENGALURU: With increasing number of police personnel in the City testing Covid-19 positive, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao has requested the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Praveen Sood for a designated Covid care centre for the police.As of date, 400 police personnel have tested positive in the City. Of them, 192 have been discharged and five have succumbed to the infection. As a precautionary measure, constables and head constables above the age of 50 years with co-morbid conditions have been asked to work from home.

The Commissioner has also requested the State police chief for financial assistance for providing preventive kits like face shields, masks, gloves and hand sanitizers to the City cops, who are on frontline duty and home quarantine kits for those, who are under home isolation, Rao told TNIE.

“The cases of Covid-19 infection are on the rise in the police. It is our duty to protect our personnel and their family members. We are tying up with the Covid testing facility at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology for our people and would request the lab to fast-track the reports for timely hospitalisation of positive cases,” he said.

Rao said that with the spike in cases in the constabulary, who are on frontline duties, there is a need “to help them and their family members with the best medical care, treatment and preventive gear. We have opened a Telegram account for 16,000 police personnel to reach out to them and help them stay in touch with their higher-ups.” He added that despite the challenges and health risk, the morale of police is high.

Around 20 police stations have been sealed across the City after positive cases were reported there. “I am going to visit all such police stations, which were sealed and have re-opened, to instil confidence in my people,” he said.

Rao said that petty crime in the City has increased in some pockets after people lost their business and jobs due to the pandemic. “There is a shortage of hands, but we have to ensure maintenance of law and order and public safety. Out of 245 Hoysalas (police patrol cars), 36 have been affected because of Covid-19 but we have not decommissioned any of them,” he added.He had earlier issued a slew of directions to police stations to mandatorily observe all precautions including social distancing, temperature check of staff and visitors, while ensuring that no complainant was turned down.