7 Police officials in Lakhipur test positive "possibly" after coming in contact with two peddlers

When the Police go after suspects, they do so without knowing if the criminals are positive for COVID19. They risk their lives and such is the nature of the job of these frontline warriors. In Lakhipur Police Station, seven police officials have tested positive for COVID19.

On Friday, after an operation led by SDPO, Partha Pratim Das, the Police managed to nab two drug peddlers. 50 grams of suspected Heroin was confiscated from them. The market price of Heroin in Assam is estimated to be around Rs 5 crore for a kilogram.

The two detained are Arindam Dhar (24) a resident of Cachar’s Katigorah area and Abdul Kalam Laskar (22) of Ghoniala, Silchar. Based on a secret tip-off, the operation was launched and the drug was confiscated.

On Saturday the two detained were tested as per routine protocol and both of them tested positive for COVID19. Soon, the team of officials involved in the operation and also those who came in contact with the two were tested. SDPO, Das confirmed while speaking with Barak Bulletin that seven Police officials have tested positive and two peddlers detained are also carrying the infection.

“All the officials were tested after election duty. So, it is possible that they have got infected after coming in contact with the peddlers. However, we cannot say it for sure, as the officials have been on duty in other places too,” stated SDPO, Partha Pratim Das.

He added that all the other officials have also been tested as per the government guidelines and Lakhipur Police station has been sanitised. “The two criminals have been transported in an isolation facility under the Silchar Sadar Police Station,” informed Das. The officials who have tested positive are in isolation too.

On April 24, 2021, the Cachar district recorded 109 COVID positive cases, the highest single-day spike this year. The district has close to 500 active cases.