Three Indian police have been injured after they were sent to rescue a group of medics in Kashmir who were taken hostage by villager’s family protesting against him being tested for coronavirus.
Instead of saving patients, medics in Budgam district in the India-administered part of the disputed Kashmir had to fear for their own lives after they faced unexpected resistance from the family of a villager to be tested for coronavirus.
The incident began to unravel as the medics, who arrived in Sheikhpora village on Saturday, approached the house where the coronavirus suspect lived to make inquires.
However, they were treated to less than a warm welcome as the man’s family apparently saw red over their intent to take their relative to hospital for screening and locked up the medics in their own house instead.
“As soon our members asked about the person who had travel history, his family members kept our whole medical team hostage in their house,” Kashmir News Observer (KNO) agency reported, citing hospital officials at SDH Chadoora.
With the villagers refusing to set the medics free, it quickly came to showdown between the would-be patient’s family and police, who were called to the scene to rescue the group.
The angry villagers did not want to give in without a fight, pelting policemen with stones in a tense face-off that resulted in three officers being injured.
“A person was to be taken for screening but his family refused&kept the medical team hostage inside their house. Police party rushed to the village to rescue them but they were attacked with stones,” police said in a statement, as reported by ANI.
The standoff was eventually resolved with police setting the captives free. An investigation has been launched into the incident.
At least 207 people have fallen ill with the coronavirus in the Indian-controlled part of the region, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported. Four of those infected died and six have recovered so far. Across India, some 8,356 people have now tested positive as the total number of confirmed cases jumped by 909 on Sunday. A total of 273 patients succumbed to the disease, including 34 in the last 24 hours.
Gripped by the pandemic that has so far shown little signs of abating, India has been living under complete lockdown since March 25. While the measure was initially set to expire on Tuesday, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal indicated Saturday that PM Narendra Modi decided to extend the lockdown beyond its original deadline.
“Today, India’s position is better than many developed countries because we started lockdown early. If it is stopped now, all gains would be lost,” Kejriwal tweeted, hailing the PM’s move as a “correct decision.”
Modi is expected to officially announce the extension, which will reportedly be for two weeks, in a televised address to the nation.
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