Uttar Pradesh Reports 2 COVID-19 deaths, One Each in Gorakhpur, Meerut

Lucknow: The police in Agra on Wednesday lodged an FIR against Seema Chaudhary, daughter-in-law of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Chaudhary Uday Bhan Singh, in a case of alleged abetment to suicide of young hotel worker Aldrin Lyngdoh, who hails from Shillong.

Aldrin was one among millions of people who lost their jobs in the wake of the sudden 21-day lockdown announce by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 at 8 p.m. While many migrant workers have left for their villages, those from faraway places, like the North East, are stranded to stoppage of trains. They have no money, nothing to eat and nowhere to go either.

As per reports, Aldrin, 22, was found hanging in an eatery in Agra where he worked, which belonged to the BJP leader’s daughter-in-law.

Sources in Agra police confirmed to Newsclick that a police case was being lodged against the BJP leader’s daughter-in-law based on the last WhatsApp message sent by the deceased to his kin in Shillong in which he alleged that she asked him “to leave the place” soon after the lockdown announced.

“She (the owner) thinks she can do anything because her father-in-law is a minister”, said the purported WhatsApp message that Aldrin is said to have sent to his relatives in Shillong, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Sources in the Agra police said the WhatsApp message is likely to be considered as a suicide note. The FIR has been filed at Sikandar police station under section 360 of the IPC which amounts to abetment of suicide.

According to the local police, Aldrin hanged himself and his body was found on Tuesday in the hotel he worked in. Before hanging himself he sent a distress message to his kin which read, “The lockdown had "closed all way 4me nowhere 2go were i ll go... plz help me i don’t know we’re 2go only 1way i see suicide ..Please help me, my Khasi brothers and sisters. Please help my Khasi brothers and sisters. Please help me by sharing this with everyone in Shillong.”

Aldrin also shared the message with Delhi’s Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Robin Hibu, who received the message after Aldrin took the extreme step. Sources added that Hibu, soon after seeing the message, forwarded it to the police in Shillong who then tried to approach Aldrin first and then the Agra police. 

Meanwhile,  M S Rao, Chief Secretary in the Meghalaya Government has penned a letter to the Chief Secretary in Uttar Pradesh to probe the allegations made by Aldrin in his suicide letter and take appropriate action against the employer saying that termination from services was a violation of government order 40-3/2020-DM-I-(A) dated March 29, 2020. The police in Agra have seized the restaurant. 

Meanwhile, Chaudhary Udaybhan Singh, UP’s minister of state for khadi and gramodyog, whose daughter-in-law Seema runs the restaurant, told The Telegraph: “He (Lyngdoh) was alcoholic and had fallen sick a few months ago. We took him to a doctor who diagnosed that he was suffering from tuberculosis. We helped him but couldn’t let him work in the restaurant. He later left the city.”

Covid-19 Deaths and Cases in UP

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh reported the first two deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday. The first death was reported from eastern district of Gorakhpur while the second was reported from Meerut.

A 25-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh's Basti district who died on Monday evening became the state's first COVID-19-linked death after his samples tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday morning.

Amid concern over the state's first virus-linked fatality, red flags have been raised after it emerged he allegedly hid travel history details from the authorities.

"The man gave no information that he had a travel history. This is the fault of the patient and his relatives. He said he had been ill for a month and had no fever at the time. So he was diagnosed at the OPD (outpatient department) and admitted to the general ward," Dr OP Singh, hospital-in-charge, told the media in Gorakhpur.

While the second death was reported in Meerut Medical College where a 75 year-old man could not recuperate even on 75% oxygen support. His son-in-law is also admitted in the same hospital with COVID-19 infection. Both of them had been on ventilator since the past two days.

The father-in-law had apparently got the infection from his son-in-law who had come to Meerut from Amravati in Maharashtra. Sixteen members of the same family have also tested positive for COVID-19 and are under medical observation, Dr R. C. Gupta, principal medical college Meerut told local media.

The number of Corona patients has increased to 117 in the state with 17 people discharged after recovery. Principal Secretary Health, Amit Mohan, confirmed to Newsclick over phone that the highest number of patients are in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) - 48, Meerut with 19 patients, Agra - 12, Lucknow - 10, Ghaziabad- 8, Bareilly- 6, Bulandshahr- Varanasi - 2, Pilibhit- 2, Kanpur - 1, Lakhimpur- 1, Moradabad- 1, Jaunpur- 1, Shamli- 1 and Baghpat- 1.

Police Party attacked in Western Uttar Pradesh: 

A police inspector and a constable sustained serious injuries when they tried to stop people from violating the lockdown in Morna village of Muzaffarnagar district. The police were trying to stop people gathering at the house of former pradhan Nahar Singh, said Superintendent of Police (SP) rural, Nepal Singh, over the phone. He said a police case had been registered at the Bhopa police station and many people had been detained.. 

In Saharanpur, a mob attacked a police party which was trying to enforce the lockdown in Jamalpur village. A police case was lodged against 26 people for injuring two policemen and defying the lockdown. 

The Tablighi Jamaat Link

The Uttar Pradesh Government has identified 569 people, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Delhi in March. All of them have been quarantined. The government also identified 218 foreign nationals in the state, who came to India on tourist visas but participated in missionary work. Legal action being initiated

According to the government, "a total number of 218 foreign nationals have also been put under quarantine. The foreign nationals are from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sudan, Pakistan, Kazakhstan and Thailand."

The police officer further added that most of the people were found staying in different mosques across 18 districts of the state, and as per the order of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, all of them have been put under quarantine.

According to Luckow police commissioner, Sujeet Pandey, legal action has been initiated against some clerics who have been accused of intentionally hiding the foreign nationals. “The respective embassies have been informed,” he added.

Meanwhile in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), the Chief Medical Officer was removed and Dr AP Chaturvedi was given charge late Tuesday night. Earlier, 2007 batch IAS officer Suhas L Y was sent to Noida and given charge of district magistrate after the chief minister snubbed the former officer in a review meeting. The former officer, BN Singh, has requested a three-month leave.