Jharkhand police constable Ravishankar Jha is off duty, but dons his uniform throughout the day at his hotel room in Ranchi. That’s because when 42-year-old Jha’s wife Nishu calls from Bhagalpur, some 350 km away, they usually do a video chat. Jha does not want her to know that he has been quarantined after serving at a COVID-19 infected area. The uniform is the perfect camouflage to reassure his family that all is well. Though he tries to keep his conversations short, Jha makes it a point to check about the well-being of his two children, Aditya and Ashika.

Jha is one of the 150 Jharkhand police personnel quarantined in Ranchi after having completed 15 days of tireless shifts at the city’s Hindpiri area, which has reported 23 COVID-19 cases and two deaths so far. The locality of about 8,000 houses accounts for half the total coronavirus cases in Jharkhand (46 as on April 21). The Union health ministry has identified Ranchi as one of the two COVID-19 hotspot districts in Jharkhand.

The state reported its first COVID-19 case on March 31 when a Malaysian woman staying in Hindpiri was confirmed positive. The woman, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi last month, and 17 other foreign nationals were evacuated by authorities from a religious centre in Hindpiri over fears of COVID-19 transmission. Later, another positive case was reported from among the group.

Unlike health workers, who are trained and have access to better protective gear, the police constables serving in Hindpiri stand a high chance of infection. Nevertheless, the personnel have been doing their job with dedication. The quarantined police personnel recall the challenges of enforcing the lockdown in Hindpiri. The measures include heavy barricading and a ban on religious gatherings. Fourteen highway patrol vans and six police control room vehicles remain deployed in the area, but convincing people to stay indoors is easier said than done.

Social media already has videos of Hindpiri residents purported trying to defy the lockdown and misbehaving with the police. In one such incident, police personnel were attacked and stones pelted on an ambulance that came to take away three persons confirmed COVID positive by the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi. On April 16, police in nearby Lohardaga sent six people to an isolation centre after they escaped the lockdown in Ranchi. It turned out that two people from Lohardaga were using a curfew pass issued on medical grounds to shift out four persons from Hindpiri.

At the Ranchi hotel, the quarantined police personnel are settling down to their confined lives in the 120 sq ft rooms. Movement is restricted and the hotel staff leaves food outside the rooms. “We have been instructed to remain isolated. We are obeying the orders like disciplined soldiers,” says 20-year-old constable Ravi Ranjan. “I am raring to join duty, but will not step out unless my seniors instruct me to.”

Rose Bakhla and Rose Tirkey, women constables in their twenties, have completed their duration of quarantine and are looking forward to meeting their children in Ranchi.

About 10 km from the hotel, another group of 200 police personnel is getting ready for deployment at Hindpiri. One policeman says, “We have already been shifted out of our homes to this deserted colony on the city’s outskirts. This is in order to protect our families and colleagues.” Armed with masks, gloves, face shields and sanitisers, the group is getting ready for the long haul. “Fifteen days of tough COVID duty will be followed by isolation, till this virus goes away for good,” says a senior police official in Ranchi.

Apart from enforcing the lockdown, the police are also entrusted with the responsibility of helping the health workers with contract-tracing of COVID patients. They accompany the workers as they go door to door to interview people. “It is not always easy to maintain social distancing as the lanes are crammed,” says one constable. “We also need to ensure that essential supplies reach the people of Hindpiri.”

Meanwhile, at one of the police quarantine centres in Ranchi, 28-year-old constable Asha Kumari has just finished speaking to her parents in Lohardaga. “I am looking forward to joining duty once the quarantine is over,” she says. Asked where she would like to be deployed, she replies in a matter-of-fact manner: “Hindpiri, where else? The police need me there.”

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