The Ludhiana District Public Relations Office on Saturday, 18 April, took to Twitter to announce that an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Punjab Anil Kohli, who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a private hospital in Ludhiana, had passed away.
According to PTI, ACP Anil Kohli had tested positive for coronavirus on 12 April. His wife, security guard and a station house officer tested positive on Friday.
On Friday, the Punjab government had given its go-ahead to the hospital to conduct plasma therapy on the police officer.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh took to Twitter on Saturday to condole Kohli’s death, and also stated that the state had lost Gurmail Singh Kanungo on Friday to the virus.
The chief minister announced an ex-gratia sum of Rs 50 lakh to Kohli and Singh’s families. He also added that the “State Govt will pay Rs 50 lakh to the next of kin of officials who die in the line of duty due to #Covid19.”
Punjab Police announced on Twitter that Kohli was “instrumental in bringing order & social distancing to the sale & purchase operations at Ludhiana Sabzi Mandi for which he had to get up around 2 am for many consecutive nights.”
Kohli was also directly involved in contact tracing & area containment in Ludhiana. He was accorded state honours on Saturday as part of the officer’s last rites.
Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta also condoled the death of Kohli.
Gurmail Singh, a 58-year-old revenue official in the state was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Ludhaiana and passed away on Friday, health officials said, according to PTI. Singh had reportedly tested positive for the infection on Thursday night and was admitted to hospital after he complained of fever and breathlessness on 14 April.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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