Maharashtra: Traffic cop from Bhayandar dies of COVID-19

A 54-year-old traffic inspector attached to the Thane district rural police in Mira-Bhayandar town died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, an official said. The officer succumbed to the deadly infection at a hospital in neighbouring Mumbai in the early hours of the day, the official spokesman of the district rural police said.

At least 44 police personnel from the Thane rural police were infected by coronavirus, of which 21 were undergoing treatment and 22 were discharged so far, said Tukaram Tatkar, the PRO of the Thane district rural police. Meanwhile, 72 personnel of the Palghar rural police have tested positive for the infection so far, Palghar police PRO Sachin Navadkar said.

While a police constable died of the infection, 41 personnel have recovered and 30 were undergoing treatment, he said. Most of the infected policemen tested positive after coming in contact with the accused in Palghar mob lynching case, who had contracted the infection, the official said. A total of 387 police personnel from the Thane police commissionerate had contracted the infection so far, inspector (welfare) Ganpatrao Pingle said. While 292 of them had been discharged, two have died and the remaining were currently undergoing treatment, he said.