Tamil Nadu on Wednesday saw the first death of a police officer due to COVID-19 as Bala Murali, a law and order inspector in the Mambalam police limit, succumbed to the disease. The death of the 47-year-old law and order inspector has sent shockwaves among police personnel working in the state.
Bala Murali (47), the law and order inspector of the Mambalam police station under T Nagar limits, had tested positive in the first week of June and had been quarantined at the Mahanadhi hostel of IIT Madras campus, as per reports.
However, his condition worsened and he was shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The police personnel arranged for a separate medical team to monitor his health conditions. The inspector’s health had shown a slight improvement, but his health deteriorated again on Friday.
Police officials including the City police Commissioner AK Viswanathan stepped in to help Bala Murali with the procurement of an expensive drug to ease breathing and suppress inflammation. The officers pooled in money to procure three shots of the drug worth Rs 2.25 lakh each, say reports.
Despite the efforts, the inspector could not be revived and he succumbed to infection on Wednesday evening. He was buried at the Kannamapet burial ground.
Bala Murali, a native of Vellore, had finished his B.E. Electronics and Communication but joined the police service in 2000. The sub-inspector was promoted as the inspector in 2010 and has served in Neelankarai, Mambalam and KK Nagar limits. He is survived by his wife and two children.
The police inspector is the first police officer to have succumbed to the virus in the state. So far, more than 700 police officers have tested positive for coronavirus, of which over 230 officials have been discharged following recovery, reports say.
On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu recorded 2,174 more cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state to 21,990.