Another police official died from coronavirus at a city hospital today, raising the Covid-19 deaths of police personnel to six.
Raghunath Roy, 49, an assistant sub-inspector of Public Order Management (POM) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, was admitted to Central Police Hospital on Monday after he tested Covid-19 positive.
He breathed his last around 8:15am today at the ICU, Hasan Ul Haider, director of the hospital, told The Daily Star.
“He was diabetic. He was well till 11:00pm last night [on Tuesday]. Around midnight, suddenly his condition deteriorated with acute breathing problems,” said Hasan, also deputy inspector general of police.
Raghunath of Lakshmipur left behind his wife, a daughter, a son, and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death. The body was sent to his village home for cremation.
Bangladesh Police expressed deep shock over his death.
Earlier, Sultanul Arefin, 44, a sub-inspector of POM, SI Nazir Uddin of Special Branch of Police, Abdul Khaleq, 26, an assistant sub-inspector of POM, Asheq Mahmud, a constable of DMP’s Traffic North Division, and Jasim Uddin, a constable of Wari Division, died after contracting coronavirus.
As of today, 1,190 policemen were infected with coronavirus and 85 of them have recovered, said police sources.
Of the infected, 576 are working with Dhaka Metropolitan Police, they said.
Meanwhile, a journalist died after showing coronavirus symptoms early today, said his colleague.
Mahmudul Hakim Opu, 51, was a senior journalist at Dainik Shomoyer Alo.
His colleague Fakhrul Islam said Opu fell sick on April 21 and had been staying at home since then. He was suffering from fever, cough, and cold, said Fakhrul.
Opu was found dead when family members called him for sehri early today, Fakhrul said, adding that his blood samples had been collected for tests.
On April 28, Shomoyer Alo chief reporter Humayun Kabir Khokon, 47, who was infected with coronavirus, died at a city hospital.