Nine RPF jawans test positive for Covid-17

Biswabrata Goswami

Statesman News Service

MIDNAPORE, 24 APRIL: At least nine of 28 constables of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) who reached Howrah station from Delhi earlier this month have tested positive for Covid-19.

A railway official said eight of the affected men are posted in West Bengal while one in Odisha. Further, among eight RPF personnel, six jawans are posted in Kharagpur, one person in Santragachi and another one in Uluberia. The RPF jawan posted at Balasore in Odisha is now admitted in the Aswini Hospital in Cuttack.

The results of the swab samples of two more men who were part of the contingent are awaited.

Earlier 19 persons who came in contact with the jawans were taken in quarantine, while more 35 persons have been taken to quarantine after the reports of the sample tests appeared positive. As of now, a total of 54 persons have been taken in quarantine, though the railway authorities are desperately looking for other unknown persons who came close with the jawans, a railway official said.

The 28-member RPF contingent — from the Kharagpur division of South Eastern Railway — had left for Delhi and Rajasthan on 20 March for zonal training of RPF jawans which railway officials termed “an important assignment”.

The group took the train from the national capital to Kolkata on 13 April and reached Howrah on the next day. Upon arrival, the RPF personnel took a bus to Kharagpur around 8am.

As the nationwide lockdown had come into effect on 25 March, the RPF contingent had been stuck in New Delhi. The members stayed at the barracks in Dayabasti, New Delhi, till 12 April.

“It was decided to run parcel special trains for transportation of essential goods during lockdown. Subsequently, the parcel special trains started from 31 March. Since there was scarcity of ammunition with RPF in SER, the ammunition collecting contingent was advised to move by suitable parcel train from Delhi. It is pertinent to note that the on-duty movement of armed forces was exempted from the restrictions imposed during the lockdown,” the railways ministry said.

The divisional commercial manager of Kharagpur railway division, Aditya Chowdhury said, “The nine men have been shifted to hospitals. Their contacts, including colleagues in the barracks, have been sent to quarantine centres.”

Barracks were “isolated from the civilian population even in the absence of curbs”, the officer said.

Dr Girish Chandra Bera, chief medical officer of health in West Midnapore said, “All the six RPF jawans who tested positive for Covid-19 have been sent to the Covid hospital in Mecheda”.

Meanwhile, a war of words has erupted between the Trinamul Congress TMC) and the railways over nine RPF personnel testing positive for coronavirus in West Bengal, with the ruling party in the state questioning how the infected men travelled during the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the deadly disease.

Raising concerns over the development, TMC MP Derek O'Brien tweeted, saying, “Getting disturbing news. 9 #RPF personnel test + for #Covid19 in Bengal. 6 in Kharagpur, 1 each Mecheda/Uluberia. They all came to Kolkata from Delhi on 14 April by train. Why were positive patients traveling during #lockdown? WHO SENT THEM ? Screening? How many people did they met (sic)?”

Responding to the tweet by O'Brien, who is the national spokesperson of the Mamata Banerjee-led party, the railways said there was no violation of the guidelines issued for COVID-19 management by the Centre or any state government, while adding that the RPF contingent had not come in contact with any members of the public.

Courtesy: Image from Sakshi Samachar.