Leh Council CEC, officials among 150 quarantined
Tribune News Service
Jammu/Leh, June 2
A day after three-time Ladakhi parliamentarian P Namgyal died of coronavirus in a Leh hospital, top politicians, senior officials of the Ladakh administration, journalists and hundreds of locals were today sent into home quarantine amid fears that they might have come in contact with family members of the deceased.
‘Fix accountability’
It was incredible negligence on part of the administration as to how they could allow such a large gathering at the residence of the deceased despite the fact that Section 144 was imposed in Leh district. The accountability must be fixed for this lapse. — A senior leader
Highly placed sources said the Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) and four executive councillors of the Leh Council, top officials of the Ladakh UT administration and politicians, some doctors, journalists, police officials and hundreds of people, who came directly or indirectly in contact with the family of the deceased, were sent into quarantine and had been asked not to mix with their family members till they were sampled and tested negative for Covid.
Sources said two family members of the deceased had tested positive, while two others tested negative. “Almost all political leaders are placed in quarantine. About 150 contacts have been traced so far. All of them would be sampled,” sources said.
“It was incredible negligence on part of the administration as to how they could allow such a large gathering at the residence of the deceased despite the fact that Section 144 was imposed in Leh district. The accountability must be fixed for this lapse,” a senior leader told The Tribune.
Meanwhile, under criticism, the Leh district administration ordered an inquiry into the “lapses in the protocol in the handling of a Covid-19 suspect and alleged irregularities in handling the body”. The administration performed the last rites of the deceased leader in the traditional way as per the protocol under administrative observation.
