Three persons including a doctor were injured as a crowd attacked a health department team which went to take samples for COVID-19 in the Nawabpura area of Moradabad on Wednesday, police said. The area was declared a hotspot after one person from the area passed away on April 13 allegedly because of coronavirus.

According to a health department official, a person passed away on April 13 after being tested positive for COVID-19. “He was admitted to a private hospital on April 8 for high fever and his sample was taken on April 9. On Wednesday, a team led by a doctor went to take the samples of family members and to take his brother, who had become symptomatic, to institutional quarantine,” he said. However, suddenly a crowd stopped the ambulance and pelted stones on the vehicle and team members “A doctor and a pharmacist were injured. The team members were heckled and their PPE suits were torn off. The four policemen who went with the team had to retreat. One of them was also injured.”

A police team led by Superintendent of Police Amit Anand had to rush with Shehar Imam Masoom Azad to restore normalcy. Amit Pathak, Senior Superintendent of Police, Moradabad, told reporters a crowd of around 150 people attacked the ambulance when the medical team was taking the family of the deceased for quarantine. “We will identify the miscreants and take strict action against them,” he said.

Police sources said at least a dozen persons, including five women, have been taken into custody. An eyewitness said the stone-pelting continued intermittently from congested lanes and the police had to use a drone to put a stop to it.

Mr. Azad condemned the attack. “I counselled the community once again to support the administration in controlling the pandemic. Having said that, the administration should also work on confidence-building measures. When there is a gap in communication, rumours find ways to infect the minds. The community is living under the fear of police for some time. Even today, the commotion started when the argument ensued between policemen and some locals,” he said.

Later, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued a statement stating that the National Security Act and the National Disaster Act, 2005 would be invoked against miscreants in such cases and any loss to the public property would be recovered from them. He further asked the district administration to identify all the miscreants.