Mumbai: 2 more cops succumb to Covid-19

MUMBAI: Two cops, including an inspector from Mulund police station succumbed to Covid-19 on Thursday, taking the force’s toll in the city to 62. So far, 132 cops have died in the state due to coronavirus.
The increasing number of deaths as well as cops testing positive for coronavirus has become a “major cause for concern” in the short-staffed police force.
Around 14 per cent cops are aged above 55 years and they had been asked to go on leave in the wake of the pandemic. Currently, more than 4,440 cops are quarantined at various hospitals.
The department has allowed cops to take a 24-hour break after every 12 hours of duty. During the five months of lockdown, the workload in the force doubled due to nakabandis, implementation of the night curfew, providing protection to hospitals, quarantine centres and during health checkups, and rising cyber crimes,
Police inspector Vishwanath Tambe (54), who held the charge of administration in the Mulund police station, died at Sapphire Hospital in Kalwa early on Thursday morning. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Tambe is the seventh cop of the officer rank to succumb to the virus. A Nahur resident, he had recently joined Mulund police station.
Police said in the first week of August, he developed a fever and then underwent two Covid tests, both of which were negative.
“His condition worsened on August 10, after which he was forcibly admitted to Sapphire Hospital in Kalwa. But his fever did not recede and he had high diabetes. When we did his CT scan, doctors found his lungs were infected and hence started Covid treatment, but his condition did not improve and he died on Thursday. He was a very good officer,” said Prashant Kadam, deputy commissioner of police (Zone VII).
Police said his family, too, underwent tests and their reports were negative.
At least eight cops, including senior inspector of Mulund police station Ravi Sardesai, have tested positive and are currently quarantined or being treated at various Covid care centres and hospitals. “Many of these cops stay in the Thane-Dombivli belt, which has seen a surge in cases,” said a Mulund officer.
Police sub-inspector Vinayak Babar (40) attached to Deonar police station, who was admitted to D Y Patil Hospital in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, too, succumbed to the virus on Thursday. Police said Babar who lived with his family in Kamote, Navi Mumbai, was admitted to D Y Patil Hospital on August 8 after testing positiive.He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. His family is in quarantine. His aged parents live in Pune.
Babar had a good track record of solving complex criminal cases, said Raghini Bhagwat, senior inspector of Deonar police station.