Five people booked for violating mandatory 14-day home quarantine in Hyderabad

As many as five persons who were found violating the mandatory 14-day home quarantine orders were booked by the police on Tuesday in Hyderabad. All five have been booked under sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

Four persons who were found violating home quarantine rules have been shifted to isolation centres. The state has repeatedly appealed to those under home quarantine to not come out of the house and has warned that if the quarantine rules were disobeyed, their passports will be seized and suspended.

The four persons who have been found violating quarantine rules have travel history to USA, UK, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, UAE between March 10 and 21. 

The fifth person to be booked is a 20-year-old man who had returned from Australia last week. He has been admitted to the state-run Gandhi hospital.

He was found while travelling in a car with his parents at Cyber Towers junction area in Hyderabad during vehicle checks by police during the lockdown period, police said.

The initial investigation revealed that the man, who was pursuing studies in Australia, came to the city on March 19, reported PTI. Instead of undergoing home quarantine for 14 days on his arrival in the state, he was found moving out, violating the norms prescribed by the Health Department, police said.

As he was also found coughing frequently, he was shifted to the isolation ward at the Gandhi Hospital for further tests. If the man tests positive, his family members would also be called for medical tests.

As of now, they have been asked to strictly adhere to home quarantine norms, police said.

All five persons have been booked under IPC Section 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) in accordance with the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

In the meantime, authorities have also booked the 57-year-old DSP of Bhadradri Kothagudem district and his foreign returnee son, for allegedly not informing health authorities about his arrival from London on March 18. The DSP later tested positive for coronavirus, and the female cook of the house has also tested positive.

Police say the DSP SM Ali failed to report about his son’s arrival and did not follow the mandatory 14-day quarantine for foreign returnees. 

Reports suggest the DSP's son had ventured out, violating the quarantine protocol multiple times. He reportedly went out for a haircut and even attended a family function in West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on March 19. Health Department officials in Telangana initiated containment measures around the locality of the families residence soon after. 

The process of containment has been initiated in the residential areas of Bhadradri Kothagudem district and also at Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas of Ranga Reddy district as a measure to contain the possible spread of the disease.

At the Bhadradri Kothagudem district, the health department officials have set up a three-kilometre containment zone and a seven-kilometre buffer zone. Similar measures have been adopted under the GHMC area in Ranga Reddy district, where a containment zone of one-kilometre and a buffer zone of three kilometres has been set up in the area.

(With PTI inputs)