[ Tongam Rina ]
ITANAGAR, Apr 1: In what appears to be a major lapse by the police in the capital, a person who returned from Nizamuddin in Delhi was arrested instead of being put on self-isolation or quarantine.
He was reportedly arrested on 20 March for inner line violation and kept in police custody in Naharlagun. After his release, he is reported to have spent two days in Itanagar before leaving for his village in North Lakhimpur district of Assam on 23 March, when Arunachal implemented the lockdown.
This daily could not contact the Assam police, but according to the police in Arunachal, the result of the swab sample taken from the person is awaited.
The state government had on 17 March stopped issuing temporary and provisional inner line permits as part of its measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The capital police and medical personnel had already started the screening process before 20 March.
More than 300 cases of Covid-19 positive across the country have been linked to the popular tourist and religious place in Delhi.
Meanwhile, all six people in Namsai who had travelled to Nizamuddin have been identified. They have been quarantined and tested for Covid-19, and the results are awaited.
Of the six, three were traced on Wednesday.
Responding to a query from this daily, Namsai SP Ankit Singh said all six have been traced and they are quarantined.
“The results are expected on Thursday,” he said.
The swab sample of the person who had travelled from Lohit was taken on Tuesday night and sent to the IMCR in Dibrugarh (Assam) on Wednesday morning.
“The result is being awaited,” said Lohit DMO, Dr Sajinglu Pul Chai.
The person was already in home quarantine as per the order of the Lohit district administration.
All the eight people had travelled to Delhi together in December from Tinsukia in Assam. They returned to Namsai, Lohit and Itanagar between 19 and 20 March.
According to the travel history of those who have been identified, they did not take part in the religious event as they were in UP. They did, however, stay at Nizamuddin Markaz from 12-14 December and between 14 and 16 March, before returning to the state, according to officials.
The number of coronavirus cases linked to the religious event in Nizamuddin was reported to be 331 on Wednesday – the highest number recorded so far in the country. Among the states, Tamil Nadu has the highest number with 190, while Assam recorded 16.
