Commandant of Delhi ITBP unit with high COVID-19 cases posted out immediately

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 8

The commandant of Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force’s battalion based at Tigri camp in New Delhi, which has witnessed a large number of personnel testing positive for COVID-19, has been posted out.

According to the orders issued by the Director General, ITBP, on Friday evening, the officer has been posted to a staff appointment in the force’s Central Frontier at Bhopal “in public interest.”

A Commandant posted with the Operations Directorate at ITBP Headquarters had been command of the battalion in addition to his duties at the directorate, sources said.

The incumbent has been directed to hand over charge immediately and report to his new place of posting on Saturday. The battalion concerned is tasked with internal security duties in the capital.

According to its COVID-19 bulletin released on Friday evening, as many as 12 ITBP personnel deployed on internal security duties have tested positive in the past 24 hours.

Till Wednesday, as many as 45 ITBP personnel at Tigri Camp had tested positive for COVID-19 with many others quarantined. This also resulted in the camp bring sealed.

The ITBP, with a strength of close to 90,000 troops, is responsible for the peacetime management of the border with China. It reported its first COVID case on April 28.

As many as 88 ITBP personnel have been admitted to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) Research and Referral Hospital in Noida, besides 15 from the Border Security Force and one from the Central Reserve Police Force, the bulletin stated.

The Armed Forces as well as the CAPFs, which are heavily involved in combating the COVID-19 threat, have reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in their ranks over the past few days, with over 300 cases in the CAPFs and about 60 in the military.