A Kannur Corporation councillor belonging to the Indian Union Muslim league (IUML) was arrested on Friday for helping his relative escape isolation where he had been kept under observation.
On Thursday evening, the accused IUML leader, identified as M Shafiq, had taken his relative to his house from the Thana Pre-Matric hostel which has been turned into a COVID-19 care centre, where he was under observation. The said relative had recently arrived with a 25-member group from Bengaluru.
The person under observation returned to the centre on Friday evening. According to reports, the town police said that the relative had gone to meet his mother, who had not been keeping well.
The Kannur town police confirmed that a case has been registered against the councillor under Sections 271 (Disobedience to quarantine rule) and 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 118 (e) (acts causing danger to public or failure in public safety) of the Kerala Police act too has been registered against the councillor.
The 46-year-old was arrested and later let off on bail.
Meanwhile, a sub-collector from the Kollam district has been suspended by the state government for breaking the mandatory 14-day quarantine rule and leaving to his home town of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Sub-collector Anupam Mishra who was on leave, had returned to Kerala from Singapore, and returned to duty on March 19. However, considering that he had traveled to Singapore, where local transmission of coronavirus has been reported, the Health Department as well as the district collector had instructed him to observe a 14-day home quarantine.
However, a routine check by health officials found the sub-collector’s residence deserted. While the IAS officer claimed that he had left to Bengaluru and was under quarantine with a relative, police officials traced his mobile SIM to his home town of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Based on a report by the district collector, which reported the sub collector’s action to be a ‘grave lapse’, the government suspended him. According to reports, the young officer, in his conversation with the district collector, explained that he mistook home quarantine as permission to go home. However, his explanation was not accepted by the district administration or the state government.
A case has also been registered against the officer, based on a report by the local health department, in the Kollam West police station.