The State government on Friday told the High Court of Karnataka that armed police protection would be provided to healthcare workers on COVID-19 duty, depending upon the location and local circumstances.
A statement in this regard was filed in response to the court’s queries on April 21 on the State’s policy on providing police protection to health workers, given the attack on health workers, government officials and the police at Padarayanapura ward of Bengaluru city on the night of April 19, when some people were being taken to a quarantine centre.
What happened
Explaining the incident at Padarayanapura, which was been sealed and declared a containment zone, the government stated that on April 19, around 6 p.m., health officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and police personnel went to Arafatnagar in the ward. They were assigned the task of securing 58 primary contacts of COVID-19 positive persons for being placed under quarantine and of transporting another 17 persons to be placed in institutional quarantine, under police protection.
Around 8 p.m., the government’s statement said, a group led by one Wazeer Khan, unlawfully assembled and started protesting, obstructing the officials from executing their task of transporting another 15 persons to the quarantine centre. “At this stage, the officials pleaded with the crowd to cooperate, since the work they were executing was in the larger interest of the public. However, the pleas of the officials were unheeded and the unlawful assembly started pelting stones, assaulting health officials, BBMP officials, and police personnel,” the government told the court.
The mob, according to the statement, also ransacked the temporary sheds constructed for executing duties and proceeded to neighbouring places, causing further destruction of public property and endangering lives and public safety.
‘Act swiftly’
A special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, taking note of the government’s statement, directed that all police stations be instructed to act immediately whenever there is any need for police protection for healthcare workers on COVID-19 duty.
Earlier, the government also said that instructions had been issued to police units to invoke provisions of the National Disaster Management Act, 2006 if anyone obstructed health workers.
