Chennai, May 14: As many as 12 police personnel in Chennai have succumbed to Covid-19 over the past month or so.
The latest victim of the frontline force to fall to the virus was Assistant Commissioner of Police Eswaran, who was posted in Pallavaram Police Station in Chennai.
The 52-year-old officer had served in the force since 1996 and was undergoing treatment at the Government owned King’s Institute for treatment of novel coronavirus disease but succumbed on Thursday. Sources said he had undertaken two shots of vaccination.
Chennai’s new Commissioner of Police Shankar Jiwal paid tributes to him and a few other policemen who died of Covid in recent days.
Only on May 7, a Special Sub Inspector Balaji had died in Chennai of Covid. A day earlier, another Special Sub Inspector and a Head Constable, both posted in Chennai, had died at the Government Royapettah Hospital.
“At least 12 of our personnel had succumbed to the virus since last month,” said a senior police officer.
“In the first wave, we had lost 24 of our men in Chennai alone,” he added.
Since last month, an estimated 800 police personnel had contracted the virus. Of them less than 100 were hospitalised while the others had taken treatment either under home isolation or in Covid Care Centres as their infections were not severe, the officer said.
