First Corona +ve case in Ramban, Jammu’s total 57
Nearly 500 enter illegally from Lakhanpur, quarantined
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 23: As one more person who had travelled in a truck with a view to reach Srinagar but was caught at Ramban on April 16 turned positive for Coronavirus today, the administration directed police to ensure that none other than certified drivers and cleaners ride on the trucks carrying essential commodities. Authorities in Udhampur traced 22 persons who had illegally reached their houses in the trucks posing as cleaners, lodged FIRs against them and sent them on 14-day quarantine while 25 persons travelling from Katra to Jammu were intercepted at Nagrota and sent to quarantine centre.
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Authorities have set up a Special Task Force at Lakhanpur to check influx of people into Kathua from Punjab through river Ravi and have so far detained nearly 500 persons, who had illegally entered into the Union Territory, and sent them to quarantine centres. The Task Force was working 24×7 to ensure that even if the persons managed to cross Ravi, they didn’t reach home without quarantine.
Harsh steps to check illegal influx of people into Jammu and Kashmir was necessitated as two persons who had reached Kathua and Ramban districts have tested positive for COVID-19 during past four days.
A 25-year old shawl trader from Nowshera, Srinagar was today tested positive for COVID-19. He was among 11 persons who were riding illegally to Kashmir in a truck and were intercepted by police near Batote in Ramban district on April 16 and then sent for quarantine at Dalwas. A FIR was also registered against them.
Authorities had subjected them to sample testing in Doda. While 10 of them tested negative, the shawl trader was reported Corona positive. Immediately after his report was received, he was shifted to the Chest Diseases Hospital in Bakshi Nagar, Jammu.
Eight persons with whom the shawl trader had come in contact during the course of sample testing in Doda have been sent on quarantine and will be subjected to Corona test, SSP Doda Mumtaz Ahmad said. He added that all of them were so far asymptomatic.
Additional SP Ramban Sanjay Parihar said contact tracing of the Kashmir’s shawl trader in Ramban and Batote was on. He said village Dalwas where the trader was kept for quarantine, has been sealed by the police after it was declared as Red Zone by the District Magistrate.
He added that the truck operator has disclosed during questioning that he had taken lift in different vehicles from New Delhi and covered some distance on foot after the lockdown to reach his house in Srinagar.
With this positive case, Ramban has become sixth district in Jammu region to be affected by Coronavirus after Jammu, Udhampur, Rajouri, Samba and Kathua. In Kathua district also, a truck cleaner had reached his house at Hiranagar from Mumbai, Maharashtra and tested positive for COVID-19 a day before. He was also asymptomatic.
Ramban, Kathua and Rajouri districts now have one case each of Coronavirus. Rajouri had total four cases but three of them have been successfully treated and discharged from the COVID hospitals in Jammu.
Jammu region’s Coronavirus tally has gone up to 57 now with 39 active cases. While 17 patients have fully recovered and discharged from the hospitals, there has been one death of a woman patient hailing from village Tikri in Udhampur district.
Jammu district has maximum number of 26 Corona positive cases, of whom, 21 were active followed by Udhampur district with 20 total and 11 active cases. Samba district has four active cases while Rajouri has all four cases but only one active case. Kathua and Ramban districts have one active case each.
Meanwhile, in view of violations of lockdown by some people who are trying to reach their houses in the trucks, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Dr Jitendra Singh has appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to fully cooperate with the administration in maintaining lockdown and stay wherever they are till lockdown.
Civil and police administration today tracked down 22 persons who had reached their houses in different areas of Udhampur district posing as cleaners in the trucks.
This information was shared by Deputy Commissioner Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla on twitter. Seeking people’s cooperation, he called upon them not to use any illegal method to reach their houses from outside the UT.
Sources said all 22 persons who had reached houses from different parts of the country have been sent to quarantine centres and FIRs have been registered against them. They added that local people were also coming forward to inform the administration about arrival of people from outside.
Apart from quarantine, the people are also being subjected to sample testing.
In Kathua district also, there was no let up in illegal influx of people from river Ravi and surrounding khuds to reach Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir, from different States.
Authorities in Kathua have set up Special Task Force to check influx of the people and ensure that they don’t manage to reach their houses directly without quarantine. All those reaching Lakhanpur illegally are being sent on 14-day quarantine.
Deputy Commissioner Kathua OP Bhagat said that so far there were over 500 such people under quarantine in Kathua district.
Nagrota police today also intercepted 25 persons travelling from Katra in Reasi district to Jammu in a bus and sent them on 14-day quarantine.
SDPO Nagrota Mohan Sharma said the people were sent on quarantine as they were travelling to Jammu district from Reasi and there is ban on inter-district movement.
Nagrota police yesterday traced another person from Sandi Panchayat for hiding travel history. He had returned from Panipat, Haryana but hadn’t disclosed his travel history. A FIR has been lodged against him and he has been sent on quarantine.
With this, Sharma said, Nagrota sub division of police has so far traced 201 people who had hidden their travel history and sent them on quarantine.
Sources said in view of some persons using trucks to reach their houses, the authorities have passed strict instructions to administration in all districts to ensure that only genuine drivers and cleaners travel on the trucks and none other is allowed to board the vehicles carrying essential commodities.
Sources said the violations of lockdown could lead to extension in the restrictions as this has resulted into more positive cases of Coronavirus.
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