After 32-year-old RPF jawan deployed at Ghatshila in East Singhbhum district was tested positive for Covid-19 at Kharagpur, Railway police jawans are being subjected to regular checking under the Arogya Setu App in view of checking whether they were contacted with the coronavirus.
"We are keeping an eye on all the jawans after first positive case was reported. We have presently six RPF jawans in quarantine in Jharsugora station and eight jawans in Chakradharpur station under the Chakradharpur railway division,” said an official.
Two of the RPF personnel deputed at Ghatshila barrack had been part of a RPF contingent which had gone to Delhi and had returned via Kharagpur to Ghatshila earlier this month and had been kept under quarantine at the RPF barrack. However, after one of their personnel reports turned positive in Balasore the railway authorities called back the two RPF personnel to Kharagpur for Covid-19 testing wherein one of the personnel reports turned positive while the other one is negative.
Meanwhile, no escort is being provided by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) from Tatanagar railway station from Friday in view of the spread of coronavirus through the escort parties.
The decision to stop escorts in the goods train was made by the RPF authority following some personnel were tested positive in Kharagpur in Bengal and Balasore in Odisha recently.
" We do not to take risk so we have stopped providing escort. Though the passenger train service has stopped since March 23, the goods train services continue round the clock in every railway stations, including through the Tatanagar station. Over 50 goods trains ply through the Tatanagar station every day even during the lockdown,” said the official.
Meanwhile, senior divisional commercial manager, Chakradharpur, Manish Pathhak said escorts by the RPF personnel used to be provide to the Express, Mail as well as Superfast trains.
"The job of the jawans was to provide escorts to the passenger trains, the safety of the tracks would be maintained. But as the passenger train services have stopped completely and there is no accommodation to carry the RPF personnel in most of the goods train we have started running two boogie inspection train, which is meant to look after the safety aspects of the tracks because due to absence of the passenger trains the anti-national elements may find it good opportunity to carry out some act," said Pathak.
The senior DCM informed that several RPF personnel are in quarantine under the Chakradharpur division and after some of them were tested positive under the Kharagpur division, they have started taking more precautionary measures making the RPF personnel to move from one place to another.
