VIJAYAWADA: As many as 12 police officials, including an additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP)-rank officer and a sub-inspector (SI), working in Vijayawada police stations reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 in rapid tests conducted on Sunday. Officials said their swab samples would be sent for confirmatory tests.
A day after an SI attached with Krishna Lanka police station tested positive, city police commissioner Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao ordered a departmental inquiry to ascertain as to how the cop got infected. In preliminary probe, it was found that the cop was deployed at Ranigarithota, a red zone, and had come in contact with numerous persons.
Following this, the CP instructed station house officers in the city to conduct rapid tests on all personnel currently working in their jurisdiction. "In the tests, an ADCP-rank officer, a woman SI, eight police constables and two other staff attached to Nunna, Machavaram and Ajit Singh Nagar stations have tested positive,'' said a senior police official. "Their swab samples will be collected and sent for testing to a virology lab for confirmation. To stop the further transmission of virus, samples of the officials' primary contacts will be tested too," the official added.
Police conduct vehicle march in red zones, intensify surveillance
With the rise in number of COVID-19 positive patients in Krishna Lanka, Karmika Nagar and Khuddus Nagar in Vijayawada, the city police have sounded a high alert in these areas and conducted a vehicle march in all the red zones on Sunday.
Police Commissioner (CP) Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, District Collector A Md Imtiaz and Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP- 1, Law and Order) Vikrant Patil took part in the vehicle march at Krishna Lanka from M Hotel to Satyam Gari Hotel.
Similarly, West zone police also conducted a march with 30 vehicles in Vidyadharapuram. Addressing mediapersons, Tirumala Rao said as many as 25 positive cases were reported from Gurrala Raghavaiah Street in Krishna Lanka and added that whole area has been put under strict surveillance.
The Police Commissioner expressed his displeasure over violation of lockdown norms and said people were not cooperating with the police. "People who are roaming unnecessarily are a threat to the society," Tirumala Rao said.