"Comfortable bed is a luxury if you are a cop": Photo of sleeping cops goes viral

A photo of two policemen sleeping on their helmets has gone viral, triggering mixed reactions about the stress India's corona warriors are going through and the treatment being given to the frontline fighters against COVID-19.

The photo was shared by Madhur Verma, DIG of police, Arunachal Pradesh, who tweeted, "Isn’t comfortable bed and an eight hour sleep such a luxury ? Yes it is... if you are a cop ! Proud of these #CoronaWarriors."

The IPS association then shared the photo with the hashtag #CopsFightCorona.

India’s police force are among the frontline warriors against COVID-19 in India, as they must maintain the nationwide lockdown and, if necessary, enforce social distancing to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Police personnel, like other frontline workers, are at heightened risk of catching the virus. In Mahrashtra alone, at least 96 police personnel tested positive for COVID-19 as of Saturday. In Uttar Pradesh, 90 policemen have been quarantined after a cooking staff member tested positive.

Four policemen had lost their lives to COVID-19 until April 19 according to The Print.

The image of the sleeping policemen triggered much sympathy on social media for the hard-worker COVID-19 warriors. However, some pointed out that this was no way to treat frontline fighters of the coronavirus.

“Nothing to proud of here. It’s a matter of shame that police is under provisioned. We must stop celebrating misery,” wrote Abhinav Prakash in a reply to the tweet by Verma.

Others saluted the police force for their dedication. Sharad Mishra wrote, “They are our children whom we have given responsibility to protect us from social injustices but now they are amongst front warriors from unknown tiny enemy which they are not trained for, I pray for their long lives and health #ChineseVirus19”.

Others were reminded of the photos shared by BJP minister Kishan Reddy, which showed policemen across India taking brief breaks from their hectic schedules. One photo, showing a cop eating a meal by himself on a banana leaf on the ground, was also shared in the comments.