Telangana: Police nab absconding coronavirus-suspect Indonesian national, co-passengers kept in isolation

Representational image, via Twitter

An Indonesian national suspected to be carrying the Coronavirus, who was also missing, has been finally nabbed by Telangana police officials. He has been put in an isolation ward at a government hospital in Kurnool, reports Deccan Chronicle.

Reportedly, an Indonesian man, who is a coronavirus (COVID-19) suspect, was absconding leading to a tense situation in the city. The police who had begun their search to find the suspect got information that the suspect was travelling in a bus from Dharmavaram to Kurnool. They were told to intercept the bus and detain the passenger.

As the police and health officials intercepted the bus, it was found out that the Indonesian passenger had already got down from the bus at Dhone much before they could nab him. When the sub-inspector of police intercepted the bus, it had nine passengers, who reported that the Indonesian suspect was sneezing and coughing. Soon, the passengers were taken to the Kurnool government hospital for observation and are now kept in isolation.

Later, the police intensified their search for the suspect and learnt that he was travelling by the Sampark Kranti Express train from Tirupati to Nizamuddin in Delhi. They alerted the security at Kurnool railway station to detain him. The health team and police finally nabbed him and took him in an ambulance to an isolation ward at a government hospital.

Dr Rama Giddaiah, district medical and health officer, said that the suspect has been kept in an isolation ward. Dr Giddaiah said that as of now, 187 people have been kept under house observation. Nearly 300 foreign returned people have been identified in the district, he said.

He further added that the remaining 123 foreign-return individuals had either given a wrong address or were not available in the district. A door-to-door survey was initiated across the district and all houses were being checked to account for foreign returnees, he said.

Reportedly, the increasing influx of religious preachers from Indonesia and Vietnam has become a major problem in Kurnool district. The locals say that mosques in the districts were regularly engaging services of Indonesia-based clerics to preach the congregations of religious Islamic scholars.

It was learned that at least 10 Indonesian and Vietnamese origin religious teachers were found to have visited masjids in Kurnool district in the last few days. A health official said that they were kept in isolation wards created in masjids.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia