42 BSF, 21 ITBP Personnel Test Positive For COVID-19

NEW DELHI: At least 25 Border Security Force (BSF) tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, May 3, taking the tally to 42. The new cases were reported from a unit of the 126th battalion of the force.

They were deployed in the Jama Masjid and Chandni Mahal areas of the national capital on law-and-order duties under the command of the Delhi Police. The unit has a total of 94 personnel and five test reports are awaited.

"A total of 25 troops from this unit deployed in Delhi tested positive for the disease on Sunday. Six from the unit had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday," a spokesperson of the border-guarding force was quoted saying by a news agency.

The 2.5-lakh-personnel-strong BSF is primarily tasked with guarding the Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from rendering a variety of duties in the country's internal security domain.

Earlier in the day, the headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in New Delhi has been sealed from today after Special Director General (SDG) rank officer's personal secretary who was working in the headquarters had tested positive for the virus.

In another case, a 60-year-old retired head constable of the ITBP succumbed to COVID-19 infection today as 20 other personnel of the border-guarding force contracted the disease. A total of 21 Indo-Tibetan Border Police force personnel, including the deceased, have been found coronavirus positive, a daily reported.

The ITBP is a 90,000-strong force primarily tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control with China apart from rendering other internal security duties.

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