Sushant Singh Rajput
The BMC has denied the request made by Bihar IPS officer Vinay Tiwari, seeking exemption from home quarantine. Tiwari, who has come to Mumbai from Patna to investigate the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, was asked by the civic body to adhere to the 14-day home quarantine rule laid down air travellers entering Mumbai.
Earlier, on Wednesday afternoon, Bihar Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey tweeted that the BMC has denied Tiwari’s request. Patna Inspector General of Police Sanjay Singh had written to the BMC commissioner opposing Tiwari’s mandatory quarantine and requested his release, which has been rejected. The BMC has sent a reply to the letter to Patna Police.
“Now our SP Vinay Tiwari will be locked inside for 14 days. This decision of BMC is unfortunate!” Pandey tweeted in Hindi.
The BMC, in its reply, has said Tiwari, while being in home quarantine, can use digital platforms to meet people and conduct his work.
Tiwari was quarantined by the BMC with his hand stamped, indicating isolation period till August 15, after he reached Mumbai on August 2.
“In a view of prevailing coronavirus pandemic situation in Bihar, it is advised that the officer can conduct his proceedings with various concerned officials of the government of Maharashtra on digital platforms such as Zoom/Google Meet/Jio Meet/ Microsoft Teams or other such platforms to interact. This will not only ensure that the officer does not transmit the infection (if at all he is asymptomatic),” reads the letter sent by the BMC to the Bihar Police.
Earlier, on Sunday, Pandey claimed that civic officials “forcibly” quarantined Tiwari at 11 pm at a Goregaon guesthouse within a few hours of his arrival on a domestic flight.
The BMC had clarified that Tiwari was quarantined for 14 days as per protocol issued by the state government on May 25 and he should apply to the BMC for exemption of home quarantine period.
The BMC, however, did not quarantine four other police officers from Bihar, who came to Mumbai on July 17 in connection with the case.