Police personnel in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district probing the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple chariot fire incident have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Sunday.
"In the last 3-4 days, I, the Additional SP (admin), Razole Circle Inspector and others have tested positive," East Godavari's Superintendent of Police (SP) Adnan Nayeem Asmi told IANS.
Though infected, SP Adnan said he is currently asymptomatic and doing well. "I am asymptomatic, and taking care of myself at home," he told IANS.
Police officials suspect that they contracted the virus while controlling the protesters who had descended on the temple village. Two of the protesters have also tested positive. Following the chariot blaze, many protesters had descended on the temple village, leading to the arrest of 43 of them.
People came from nearby villages and even places as far away as Guntur, Kakinada, and Rajahmundry.
To control the mobs, police were compelled to be in close proximity to the protesters.
Already, the police in East Godavari have been burdened with infections even before the Antarvedi incident.
SP Adnan said the district police department is stretched, with 800 personnel testing positive for coronavirus, with only 300 having recovered so far.
To cope with policing demands, additional police forces from other districts, and Andhra Pradesh Special Police and district special teams were deputed.
On September 5, a six-decade-old, seven-tiered wooden chariot of the famous Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Antarvedi in East Godavari district was gutted in a fire under mysterious circumstances, leading to a spate of protests
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
As of Sunday, East Godavari had 12,098 active COVID-19 cases. A total of 76,808 people in the district are known to have contracted the virus so far, and 454 people have lost their lives to the disease.