CRPF DG quarantines self after doctor tests positive

Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force A P Maheshwari said on Sunday that he has gone into quarantine as part of his responsibility to break the coronavirus transmission chain after a doctor of his force tested positive for COVID-19.

Maheshwari, 59, the chief of the country's largest paramilitary force with a strength of about 3.25 lakh personnel, his predecessor and senior security advisor in the Union Home Ministry K Vijay Kumar, 67, and about two dozen officials in this chain have gone into self-quarantine after the doctor was found infected on April 2.

Both Maheshwari and Kumar has last week travelled to Chhattisgarh on a special Border Security Force aircraft to review anti-Naxal operations in the state.

"As a precautionary measure I have completely restricted my movement being part of my responsibility to break the chain, and working from home, till a clarity on health check up of officials concerned emerges," the CRPF chief said on personal Twitter account on Sunday.

Maheshwari, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, had a contact with an officer who was in touch with the doctor found COVID-19 positive, now isolated at the the AIIMS in Haryana's Jhajjar.

Kumar, a 1975-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, headed CRPF between October, 2010 to September, 2012. He has also served as the advisor to the governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

"A CRPF officer had tested positive for COVID-19. All personnel in contact with the officer have been quarantined. The DG (Maheshwari) had an indirect contact with the officer and according to protocol, he is observing quarantine," CRPF spokesperson DIG Moses Dhinakaran had said on Saturday.

Except the chief medical officer of the CRPF who tested positive and undergoing treatment, DIG Dhinakaran had said, none in the chain ahead have shown any positive sign so far.

"However, the DG, as a precautionary measure, has advised all concerned to restrict their movements and strictly work from home to break the chain, if any."

"The DG has also set an example by following the same protocols," he said on Sunday.

The CRPF has directed its units across the country to help the distressed and needy amid the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown and has launched a helpline through its Kashmir-based platform 'Madadgaar' to aid those affected by the virus and related issues.