14 BSF personnel quarantined in Chhattisgarh after they returned from Agra

Fourteen Border Security Force (BSF) jawans have been quarantined in Chhattisgarh for suspected coronavirus infection after they returned from Agra, officials said on Sunday.

Their final test reports are awaited, a senior official said.

The troops had reached Bhilai town in the central Indian state on Saturday from Delhi via Agra onboard a truck of the force.

All the 14 personnel were tested upon arrival and subsequently two sent to an isolation facility in neighbouring Durg district, while the rest quarantined at a centre of the Bhilai Steel Plant, a senior official said.

After starting their journey from Delhi, the BSF troops had halted for 20 days at a police lines in Uttar Pradesh's Agra district.

"As per information, the cook of the local police in the Agra camp has been found positive for COVID-19 infection," the official said.

They said the police cook could have passed on the infection to the BSF troops, who are deployed in the anti-Naxal operations grid of Chhattisgarh.

Officials of the force also raised concerns over the movement of troops during the lockdown period and said all such activities have been strictly banned by the force headquarters. Such isolated instances may lead to serious consequences in the paramilitary, they said.

BSF Director General (DG) S S Deswal had recently issued a stern warning to his commanders and personnel, saying strict action will be taken if any of them violates the COVID-19 medical protocols.

The BSF is primarily tasked to guard Indian borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh apart from rendering a variety of duties in the internal security domain of the country.