Trio threatens to spread coronavirus to police, arrested in Karnataka

While some people have been trying to incite communal hatred after hundreds of attendees of a religious congregation in Delhi had tested positive for COVID-19, three youths in Karnataka had used it to escape from being detained by the police.

The youths — identified as Mahesh, Abhishek and Srinivas — were arrested later for posing as Muslims infected with the coronavirus and threatening to spread the virus to police personnel at Tendekere check post in Krishnarajpet of Mandya district.

According to Krishnarajpet Tahsildar M Shivamurthy, the incident occurred on April 8, when the three youths reached the checkpost in an autorickshaw. “When the police intercepted them, a youth showed the home quarantine seal on his hand and claiming that they were Muslims infected with coronavirus.”

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They went on to threaten that they would spread the virus to the personnel there, if they were detained, the Tahsildar said, adding that the youths had fled the spot. Later, the police launched a manhunt for the three and nabbed them at Ballekere.

They registered a case against the youths, who examined at a hospital. Though they remained asymptomatic, they have been quarantined, said the official. In a press release, Shivamurthy said the accused were Hindus, but identified themselves as Muslims infected with COVID-19 and triggered panic.

“I want to make it clear that neither Muslims have come to KR Pet [Krishnarajpet] to pass on the disease, nor is it true that people from the minority community area were transmitting it. People need not panic,” he said.