Five accused of Moradabad stone-pelting incident test positive for COVID-19

Five of the 17 people arrested for attacking a medical team in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad last week have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday (April 21).

Apart from them, 10 more people were found infected with the virus in the district. Police had attested 17 people, including seven women, after they allegedly attacked health workers, who had come to the Moradabad’s Nawabpura area to take family members of a coronavirus victim into isolation.

They hurled stones at an ambulance, injuring four people.

CMO Dr Milind Garg said samples of all accused of the Nawabpura incident were sent for testing to Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. Five of them tested positive for the virus on Monday night, he said.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had termed the Moradabad attack unpardonable and said those behind it will face action under the tough National Security Act.

Directing officials to identify those behind the incident, Adityanath had said the cost of damage to public property will be recovered from them.

Officials said a doctor and three paramedics were hurt and an ambulance and a police vehicle damaged in the stone-pelting.

CMO Milind Garg had said that the mob suddenly appeared and started hurling stones at the ambulance.