Bangur Nagar cops, judge and court staff quarantined after thief in judicial custody tests positive for COVID-19

Bangur Nagar cops, judge and court staff quarantined after thief in judicial custody tests positive for COVID-19

The accused was later taken to jail after a court remanded him to judicial custody. The thief underwent tests after jail authorities refused to admit him into the prison unless he was tested for COVID-19.

Priyanka NavalkarUpdated: Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 07:28 AM IST
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Mumbai: At least 24 persons, including 15 policemen from Bangur Nagar police station, have been quarantined after an alleged thief, who was caught last week, tested positive for COVID-19. Police officers came in contact with the accused when he was arrested and remanded into police custody.

The accused was later taken to jail after a court remanded him to judicial custody. The thief underwent tests after jail authorities refused to admit him into the prison unless he was tested for COVID-19.

A source said, besides the 15 policemen, those who have been quarantined include the magistrate who presided over the hearings, court staffers and other people who came in contact with the robber. The police are also concerned that two of the thief’s accomplices, who are at large, could be COVID-19 positive.

Relevant authorities are tracing the contact history of the accused and are trying to identify these contacts for testing. Samples taken from the policemen have tested negative for COVID-19, but they continue to be under quarantine as a precautionary measure.

According to sources, a team from Bangur Nagar police station caught a 22-yearold man allegedly for stealing cigarettes from a pan shop at Bhagat Singh Nagar in Goregaon (West) on April 21 and placed him under arrest.

Two of his accomplices, however, managed to give the police the slip. The arrested accused was produced in a magistrate court the following day, which remanded him to police custody till April 24.

During the probe, it was revealed that the accused had been externed from city limits earlier and was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The accused was then produced in the court and was sent to judicial custody during his second hearing.

When officers of Bangur Nagar police station took him to Thane Central Jail to lodge him there, they were turned away as the jail was at its maximum capacity amid the Coronavirus lockdown. The officers then took the accused to Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, where prison authorities refused to lodge the accused until his medical reports proved that he had tested negative for Coronavirus.

Finding themselves in a sticky situation, when police officers took the accused to Sir JJ Hospital for an examination, the accused tested positive for COVID-18, said a senior police official who did not wish to be named.

"Immediately after the reports proved that the thief was COVID-19 positive, he was put in quarantine, and so were the 15 police officers of Bangur Nagar police station who came in contact with him during the investigation. All the policemen were tested for COVID-19 and their initial reports came out to be negative. However, they have been put in quarantine as a precautionary measure," said the officer.

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