On the evening of Sunday, 19 April, a team of health workers and BBMP officials in Bengaluru was brutally attacked by a violent mob in the Padarayanapura locality, a coronavirus hotspot. As per reports, the government health team was there to quarantine the primary contacts of coronavirus positive patients.
Violence breaks out in Padarayanapura in Bengaluru as residents assault healthcare workers. ASHA workers had visited d hotspot to quarantine contacts of #COVID19 patients. Unruly mob refuses cooperation, causes unrest. @XpressBengaluru @santwana99 pic.twitter.com/gaurZeImd1
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) April 19, 2020
The visuals of the incident doing rounds on social media show an unruly mob chasing, beating the government staffers, breaking the arrangements made by them and creating a mayhem.
A group of BBMP doctors, nurses and ASHA workers had gone to the Padarayanapura locality to take into quarantine 58 primary contacts of coronavirus positive patients to a government-run quarantine centre. As per reports, the Padarayanapura locality is one of the worst affected localities in Bengaluru, with 17 positive cases has been identified so far.
The Padarayanapura locality off Mysuru Road and Bapujinagar were the two areas in Bengaluru that were completely sealed off from April 10 onwards.
It had been declared a hotspot and barricades had been set up by the police to enforce a complete lockdown. The violent mob also broke down the barricades. As per a report in Times of India, two Tablighi Jamaatis who had returned from Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz had first tested positive and then 15 of their contacts were found to be coronavirus positive.
The violent mob attacked the police after the primary contacts of the coronavirus patients refused to be taken into quarantine. The mob is seen brutally attacking the policemen and health workers and damaging the barricades, tents and other set ups made by the officials.
As per latest reports, the violence in Padarayanapura may have been pre-planned. A report by TV9 states that the mob had operated in 4 teams. While 1 team was seen indulging in violence on the main road, a second team was vandalising the check post, a third team was pelting stones on policemen and a fourth team was vandalising public property.
#IndiaUnderLockdown: #Padarayanapura violence case reportedly pre-planned. First team of vandals seen on the main road, second team vandalised check-post, third team pelted stones on policemen, fourth team destroyed public property.#PadarayanapuraViolence #COVID19outbreak pic.twitter.com/AW2J6YGDgF
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) April 20, 2020
As per the latest reports, a total of 59 people have been arrested after police finally managed to control the mob. A woman named Firoza, allegedly a local marijuana seller, have been arrested for instigating the mob. Reports say that over 100 violent miscreants had gathered to attack the health workers and policemen.
Karnataka Home Minister has stated that a total of 5 FIRs have been lodged so far. He added that he has met the CM and briefed him over the issue and such acts of violence will not be tolerated.
This is not the first such attack on ASHA workers and healthcare staffers in Bengaluru. Earlier, in a similar incident, ASHA workers and nurses were brutally attacked in the Sadiq Layout near Tannisandra. It was reported that the calls to attack the health workers were given from a local Mosque.
