To prevent a repeat of Ratlam incident, district administration has rounded up 16 ‘babas’ from different parts of Jaora town in Ratlam district.
The district administration was recently left embarrassed after a ‘baba’ who earned the acronym of ‘kissing baba’, for claiming to treat COVID-19 by kissing hands of infected patient, succumbed to the virus.
'Baba' used to kiss hands of his devotees, leading to the spread of the infection that ultimately took his life.
Owing to the incident, Ratlam, which was racing towards being corona-free, witnessed a sudden spurt in cases. The incident put the hard work of Government Medical College to waste.
Ratlam currently has 85 confirmed corona cases while 41 patients are under treatment. Forty patients have been cured and discharged. The district has also recorded four deaths.
Jaora tehsildar Nityanand Pandey said that taking cue from the recent incident, local administration is on an alert. So far, administration has rounded up 16 babas from different places. All them have been kept at quarantine centre on Khachrod road.
Block medical officer Dr Deepak Paldiya said that on Thursday, 11 samples were sent for test. With this, total number of pending reports is 29.
As per locals, seeking babas’ help to cure a disease is not a new trend. It was rumoured that 'baba' was treating people by kissing their hands and black magic.
Meanwhile, his death on June 4 due to coronavirus created panic among the masses.
Nodal officer Dr Pramod Prajapati admitted that so far 24 people who were in contact with the baba have been found infected.
