A 45-year-old police inspector, in-charge of the Juni police station in Indore, succumbed to the COVID-19 infection in the wee hours of Sunday, making him the 49th casualty in the hotspot. Two of his latest reports had come negative for COVID-19, but his condition had remained serious.
The toll in the state has now officially risen to 71 as death of a 70-year-old woman, also from Indore, was confirmed on Saturday night.
Inspector Devendra Chandrawanshi had been admitted to Aurobindo Hospital—a designated COVID-19 centre—since the past 19 days after testing positive. The medical director of the hospital attributed the cause of death to pulmonary embolism (blockage of lung artery), Indore chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr Praveen Jadia told THE WEEK.
The CMHO also confirmed that two of the latest COVID-19 reports of Chandrawanshi had returned negative. The inspector’s death came within hours of an additional commissioner of police (ACP) succumbing to COVID-19 infection in Ludhiana of Punjab on Saturday.
A sub-inspector, who had been on duty with the deceased, had also tested positive and he is also undergoing treatment currently.
Chandrawanshi, who hailed from Shajapur district, had joined the Madhya Pradesh police department in 2007.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed grief over the demise of the police inspector and has announced compensation of Rs 50 lakh and appointment of his wife to the post of sub-inspector in the police department. Chouhan tweeted to say that the he and the entire state were with the bereaved family in these times of extreme grief.
Madhya Pradesh records 1,402 cases
Meanwhile, COVID-19 confirmed cases in Madhya Pradesh now stands at 1,402 as the sudden surge in the number of positive cases in the state was stemmed for the day. The death toll is now at 71, with Indore reporting 49 and Bhopal and Ujjain six each.
Only 53 new cases were reported on Saturday compared to about 250 on each of the two previous days. Indore reported only nine new positive cases, while Bhopal reported 16 new cases.
Though CM Chouhan had tweeted on Saturday evening, expressing satisfaction that no deaths had been reported in the state during the day, a death in Indore was reported later on Saturday night and the police inspector succumbed during wee hours of Sunday.
