Delhi: Man deposits cheque signed by Covid patient, bank panics | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Delhi: Man deposits cheque signed by Covid patient, bank panics

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByKarn Pratap Singh and Shiv Sunny, New Delhi
May 04, 2020 03:50 AM IST

Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya said that a case under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered for the violation of home-quarantine rules.

Staffers at the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Model Town branch panicked on Friday when a 51-year-old man deposited a cheque that was issued and signed by his friend’s brother, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and is quarantined at home, the police said.

The bank informed the police and reportedly told them that many staff members had touched the cheque.(Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times)
The bank informed the police and reportedly told them that many staff members had touched the cheque.(Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times)

The bank informed the police and reportedly told them that many staff members had touched the cheque.

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Deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Vijayanta Arya said that a case under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered for the violation of home-quarantine rules. The first information report (FIR) was filed on the complaint of the bank’s branch manager. HT has a copy of the FIR

In her complaint, the branch manager also mentioned that the man who wrote the cheque had also visited the bank earlier in the week. He was “quite abusive” and “created a ruckus”, the manager alleged in the complaint.

The manager refused to comment on the matter when she was contacted on the phone.

“A police team visited his home in Model Town and found that a home-quarantine notice was pasted outside his house and he was a Covid-positive patient,” DCP Arya said.

Senior police officers said that the bank’s staffers were apprehensive that the man may have been infected at the time he visited the bank. A contact-tracing procedure has been initiated to ascertain how many people the man came in contact with while being infected with the virus, a police officer said.

“I have no information on this particular case, but I’ll send the SDM of Model Town to visit the quarantined house and see how a Covid-positive man managed to leave his house,” Deepak Shinde, district magistrate (north), said.

A police officer associated with the case said that on Friday, the 51-year-old man deposited the cheque, without informing the bank staffers that it was signed and issued by a person who was infected with the coronavirus disease.

HT contacted the 51-year-old man to know if he was aware that the person whose cheque he had collected was infected with the virus. The man said, “I knew he was tested positive for the coronavirus disease but received the cheque from his brother who is my friend. I did it in good faith.” He refused to comment further, saying that there was nothing to tell as a case has already been registered.

According to the officer, the contact-tracing procedure is necessary to know if the 51-year-old man was in physical contact with the infected person while receiving the cheque or had been meeting him or his family members earlier as well.

“We’ve geo-fenced the infected man’s cellphone. We will examine his cellphone location to ascertain his movements. The location of other cellphones around his house will help us find out who all have visited the area. All such persons will be questioned,” the officer added.

The Centre’s last week’s guidelines allowed mild or pre-symptomatic coronavirus cases to be home-quarantined, provided he or she lives in a place that allows strict isolation without having to intermingle with the rest of the family and a caregiver is present 24x7 and is in direct touch with a nearby Covid-19 hospital. Under the guidelines, the patient has to sign an undertaking of strict compliance with the dos and don’ts.

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