6 policemen dead, 1190 infected with Covid-19

Another member of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has died from the novel coronavirus.

The deceased is Shree Raghunath Roy, 48, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in Alpha Company of the south division of Public Order Management (POM) of the DMP.  

He was being  treated at the Central Police Hospital (CPH) in the capital's Rajarbagh area, and breathed his last at around 8.20am on Wednesday at the hospital.

So far, Bangladesh Police have reported the deaths of six police members from the deadly virus, and all of them were posted in the DMP.  

The other five members are: ASI Sultanul Arefin, POM South Division; ASI Abdul Khaleque, of DMP; Ashek Mahmud, traffic constable; and Jasim Uddin, constable. 

Moreover, the number of Covid-19 infected police members is also on the rise. The higher authorities are planning various measures to reduce the number of coronavirus patients in the force. 

A total of 1,190 police members have been infected until Wednesday, and 576 of them are from the DMP.

Around 1,260 police members are in home quarantine while 1,089 are in isolation. 

Until Wednesday, 85 police members have recovered from coronavirus, said sources from the police headquarters. 

An official of the police headquarters said that if any police member dies of Covid-19, the authorities will provide Tk10 lakh to his family. 

This financial remuneration is in addition to and not included in the remuneration announced by the prime minister. 

Under this fund, Tk5 lakh will be provided by the IGP and the other Tk5 lakh is remuneration that a police member usually gets if s/he dies on-duty.  

Besides, the family will also receive government announced remuneration ranging between Tk37 lakh to Tk50 lakh based on the service grades.  

As government employees, police members will also get some other facilities according to their service rules. 

And, police members – infected with Covid-19 while working in the field level – will get Tk5 lakh to Tk10 lakh, announced by the government.  

Terming policing as a unique profession, Sohel Rana, AIG (Media), said, "Police members have the opportunity of coming in contact with ordinary people, which is absent in other professions. To ensure that people are adhering to home quarantine rules, police members have to go to the doorsteps of the people." 

He was addressing a briefing via videoconference. 

Police members also ensure medical treatment of the people, take then to hospital, visit the market to check the price spiral, and also perform many more responsibilities, he added. 

"They even hold funerals and other religious rituals for the deceased – so, they are under risk," said the AIG. 

The protective material that we are using is not effective all the time, he added.