CHIKKABALLAPUR: Nine policemen have been quarantined on Saturday after they detained an 18-year-old who tested positive for COVID-19. The youth was held for transporting beef from Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh to Chikkaballapur in violation of the lockdown. Along with the cops, ten revenue officials including a panchayat development officer and bill collector are also reportedly quarantined.
Central Range Inspector General of Police KV Sharath Chandra said all the check posts leading to other states were closed and a tight vigil was maintained. In the wee hours of Thursday, based on credible information, a team of cops headed by a Gouribidanur Police Sub-Inspector stopped a pickup van near Chandapura and found ox meat being transported.
During the enquiry, the teen, a resident of Chikkaballapur city, revealed that he along with two of his cousins were transporting the beef from Hindupur, a red zone in Andhra Pradesh. He also revealed that by avoiding the check posts and other main roads they attempted to transport the meat in the wee hours through the village roads.
Immediately, the team of police and revenue officials arrested them by registering an FIR under various sections. Sharath Chandra said that after obtaining permission from the magistrate, the three were kept under quarantine and their swabs were collected and sent for testing. The eighteen-year-old's sample was positive.
The sub-inspector, other cops, sweeper of the police station, panchayat development officer, bill collector and others present during the arrest were considered primary contacts and kept under institutional quarantine in a hostel in Gouribidanur, said Sharath Chandra.
The senior officer who visited Gouribidanur on Saturday evening arranged ration immediately for the families of the cops under quarantine and asked Superintendent of Police Mithun to take measures to assist them.