NEW DELHI: The headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the national capital was sealed on Sunday after the personal staff of a senior officer and a bus driver tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.
The five-storeyed CRPF building is located inside the Central Government Offices (CGO) complex which houses several other government offices too. Besides the two new cases in CRPF, the Border Security Force also recorded 25 fresh cases of COVID-19, all from a company of the 126 battalion, which was deployed with Delhi Police in Jama Masjid/Old Delhi area.
80 test results of BSF personnel came out on Sunday while five are awaited. On Saturday, seven personnel of the same company, which has a strength of 94, were found infected. So far, there are 42 active cases of coronavirus in the border guarding force.
The CRPF has a total of 139 cases and 135 of them are from Delhi’s Mayur Vihar based 31 battalion which also a recorded COVID-19 death. The entire battalion has been sealed since then. As many as 480 troopers of the unit were tested for COVID-19 and 22 test results are awaited.
Besides CRPF and BSF, other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have coronavirus cases too. There are six active cases in CISF, five in ITBP, and four in SSB. With the new cases, the total number of infections in the CAPFs rose to 196 on Sunday.
The rising number of COVID-19 cases in the CAPFs, especially CRPF which is the country’s largest paramilitary force, has become a serious concern for the security grid.
CRPF Special Director General Jawed Akhtar's personal secretary tested positive for Covid-19 early Sunday. Around 40 CRPF personnel, including Akhtar, have self-quarantined and will undergo the test for coronavirus on Monday, according to officials.
The second positive case is of a bus driver who ferried personnel working at the headquarters. “One driver attached with CRPF headquarters has tested COVID-19 positive. The headquarters is closed for sanitisation till the task is completed,” a government spokesperson said.
Authorities have begun contact-tracing of all the personnel who came in contact with the staffer at the headquarter building. “All procedures will be followed. CRPF Director General A P Maheshwari has issued clear directions that all COVID-19 guidelines have to be followed strictly,” a senior official said.
55-year-old sub-inspector Mohammad Ikram Hussain of the CRPF’s 31st battalion had succumbed to the disease on April 28.
This was the first COVID-19 death in the Central Armed Police Forces, comprising the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Assam Assam Rifles
Earlier, CRPF DG AP Maheshwari had spent 21 days in self-quarantine after coming in indirect contact with a patient. He had later tested negative.