Tension prevailed at Hyderabad's Nampally railway station on Sunday morning when a person who was supposed to be quarantined at home, was found travelling on the Hyderabad Express (17031) train from Mumbai.
According to the police, the man had returned from Nigeria via Abu Dhabi and landed at the Mumbai airport on March 21, Saturday. He boarded the train from Pune the same day. He had the quarantine stamp on his palm issued by the Maharashtra government at the airport. However, he wore gloves to cover it up.
The Nampally police detained the person after co-passengers noticed the stamp and informed the authorities.
Since Nampally is the last stop, the entire train was disinfected after passengers deboarded the train. The quarantined person was travelling on B1 coach (berth number 6). He was shifted to the state-run Gandhi Hospital for isolation.
Speaking to TNM, a person who alerted the officials said, "We boarded the train at 4.30 pm in Pune on Saturday and noticed that the man was already asleep on the upper berth. It was 10.30 pm and the man was still sleeping. He did not even have his food. We found this suspicious."
The passengers saw that he was carrying baggage with the airport stickers and informed the Ticket Collector (TC). On Sunday early morning, when the man got up and removed his gloves to apply hand sanitiser, they spotted the stamp and immediately alerted the police.
"As a responsible citizen, he has to maintain distance in order to stop the spread of the virus. We don't even know whether he is infected or not. We are still worried about the co-passengers along with us," added G Sai Ram, who was also seated close to the person who was detained.
He was detained by the police at 5.47 am on Sunday and he was isolated in platform number 5 and 6 of Nampally railway station, where the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) were also present.
The person was visiting his mother who was staying with his elder brother at Mangalhat in Hyderabad.
On Saturday, a couple, who were supposed to be in quarantine and had the stamps on their hands, were deboarded at Kazipet in Telangana. They were travelling on KSR Bengaluru City - Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express (22691).
In the wake of quarantined people travelling by trains, authorities of the Railway Board are mulling over their future course of action.
Speaking to TNM, an official spokesperson of the Railways said, "It's highly impossible to detect a person whether they are supposed to be quarantined or not when they book tickets or after they start the journey. A high-level meeting was also held on Saturday night in this regard."
Meanwhile, the Telangana government reported its 22nd case of coronavirus on Sunday. Authorities said that the patient is a resident of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh who returned from London via Dubai. His condition is stable.