CRPF headquarters in Delhi sealed after staffer tests COVID-19 positive

The headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Delhi has been sealed after a personal staff of a senior officer and a bus driver of the paramilitary tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Sunday (May 3).

The five-storeyed building is located inside the Central Government Offices (CGO) complex on Lodhi Road.

A personal secretary of a Special Director General (SDG) rank officer working in the headquarters tested positive for the virus on Saturday, they said.

Also, a bus driver who ferried personnel working at the headquarters, contracted the disease, they added.

Total 40 officers and staff including a Special Director General rank officer, Deputy Inspector General to be home quarantined.#COVID19 #CRPF https://t.co/HB8gGCDsPS

— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2020

“One driver attached with CRPF headquarters has tested COVID-19 positive. The headquarters is closed for sanitisation till the task is completed,” a force spokesperson said.

The entry of officials in the headquarters has been barred from Sunday, they said.

A senior official said the force has informed the district surveillance officer for “initiating required protocols” as per medical guidelines, for time-bound proper sealing of the building.

“All procedures will be followed. CRPF Director General A P Maheshwari has issued clear directions that all COVID-19 guidelines have to be followed strictly,” he said.

They said a contact tracing exercise has begun to quarantine all the personnel who came in touch with the two infected staffers.

The SDG-rank officer has already gone into self-quarantine, they said.

The force has been witnessing multiple cases of the virus, with at least 135 personnel of its 31st battalion based in Delhi being infected and a 55-year-old Sub-Inspector of the unit succumbing to the disease last week.

Test results of 100 others are yet to come, the paramilitary force told NDTV.

At least three other personnel from different units have been found coronavirus positive and a number of their colleagues have been quarantined.

Related news: 135 troopers from CRPF battalion in Delhi test positive for COVID-19

The jawans are treated at a facility in Mandawali.

Sources in the Home Ministry also said the large number of positive cases coming from a single battalion is worrisome.

With about 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks, the CRPF is the country’s largest paramilitary force and is designated as the lead internal security force of the country.

Delhi has recorded the third-highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country with the total number reaching 4122 on Saturday.