A 30-year-old Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan with travel history to Delhi and deputed at Ghatshila in East Singhbhum has tested positive for Covid-19 at Kharagpur.

East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla said they were informed by the South Eastern Railway (SER) on Friday.

“Two of the RPF personnel deputed at Ghatshila barrack had been part of an RPF contingent that had gone to Delhi and had returned via Kharagpur to Ghatshila earlier this month. They had been kept under quarantine at the RPF barrack. However, after a jawan tested positive in Balasore, the railway authorities called back the two RPF personnel to Kharagpur for Covid-19 tests following which one of the jawans tested positive. We have kept all the 20 RPF personnel under quarantine at the Ghatshila barrack and collected their samples for test at MGM,” Shukla said.

A spokesperson for SER said the RPF contingent comprising 28 personnel had gone to Anand Vihar (near Delhi) on March 19. “The RPF contingent left Kharagpur on March 19 by train to collect ammunition. The contingent arrived at Anand Vihar on March 20 and got stuck owing to the lockdown,” the spokesperson said.

On April 13, the RPF personnel boarded a parcel train from New Delhi and reached Howrah the next day before proceeding to Kharagpur on a bus. “One constable boarded another parcel train from Kharagpur and reached Balasore on April 14 night and developed slight fever. He tested positive on April 20. Immediately, the other staff of the contingent were tested,” the spokesperson added.

Out of the 28 RPF personnel in the contingent, eight (excluding the Balasore jawan) have tested Covid-19 positive. The reports of four others reports are awaited. The rest have all tested negative.

Sources in SER said a fact-finding committee had been constituted to ascertain the circumstances under which the personnel got infected.