Over 36,000 COVID-19 cases, 128 deaths in central police forces: Data

The total number of coronavirus cases in central police forces under the Ministry of Home Affairs have gone over 36,000 with 128 personnel succumbing to the pandemic, according to the latest data.

The cases pertain to the seven forces of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

As per the latest data accessed by PTI, these forces have recorded over 36,000 COVID-19 cases till now, out of which, 6,646 are active while rest of the personnel have recovered.

The maximum cases at 10,636 have been recorded in the BSF, the country's largest border guarding force with about 2.5 lakh personnel.

This is followed by 10,602 cases in the largest paramilitary force CRPF and 6,466 cases in the CISF.

The BSF guards Indian fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh, while CISF is the national civil aviation security force.

The ITBP has had 3,845 cases, SSB 3,684, NDRF 514 and NSG 250 coronavirus cases.

The ITBP guards the 3,488 km long India-China LAC, while the SSB mans open Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan. The NDRF is the central disaster contingency force and NSG is the federal counter-terrorist and counter-hijack combat commandos force.

The data shows that in all these forces, the recoveries are much more than the active cases.

A total of 128 personnel of these forces have lost their lives to coronavirus infection.

The maximum 52 deaths have been reported in the CRPF, 29 in BSF, 28 in CISF and nine each in ITBP and SSB.

One death has taken place in NDRF.

These forces are on active duty and hence, the COVID-19 infection numbers are continuing. All those who join duty from leave are being put in mandatory quarantine and the infected are sent for medical care and isolation, a senior officer said.

These forces, with a combined strength of about 10 lakh personnel, render a variety of security duties, law and order management, border guarding, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations and disaster rescue and relief under the command of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).