(TOP NEWS) In last two years, 1 cop died in Tamil Nadu everyday

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu police lost as many as 414 personnel in 2021, revealed statistics provided by the constabulary members, making it the deadliest year for the State police force. The fatalities recorded a steep rise of 23% compared to 2020, and COVID claimed most lives, it added. In 2020, as many as 337 police officers had died. That is, in the last two years, 751 personnel died – or more than one death was recorded a day in 730 days. Of these deaths, corona infection was the leading cause, accounting for the death of 139 personnel in two years. Road traffic accidents, too, claimed an equal number of lives. When his attention was drawn to the rise in deaths, Head of the Police Force DGP C Sylendra Babu said a number of initiatives were being taken to help the constabulary to lead a healthy life, including the recent announcement by Chief Minister MK Stalin granting them compulsory weekly off. “Apart from that, crash courses for de-stressing themselves are being conducted. We are addressing their grievances at the grass root level, and are also trying to fast-track their request to be transferred to their native districts. The department is also helping them get suitable jobs for their children,” he said. However, a few constables alleged that their inspectors and deputy superintendents were yet to understand the importance of offs and were hesitating to implement it. At 88, death by suicide was lesser in number but remains a cause of concern, as it indicates stress and mental health. Four were martyred and two were murdered, added the statistics, noting that poor health and heart attacks, too, were leading causes of fatality among the police. Of the new cases, as many as 1,489 were in Chennai, while its neighbours Chengalpattu added 290 cases and Tiruvallur 147. Coimbatore, which was second only to Chennai till recently, is fourth with 120 cases, and Vellore (105) was the other district that had more than 100 new cases. There were 48 imported cases, which included 17 from Bangladesh and 10 from West Bengal, who came to the State by road. Among other foreign nationals were one from Ghana and another from UAE. The sudden surge has taken the number of active cases in Tamil Nadu to 12,412. A total of 1,03,798 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5,78,57,004. As many as 15 districts reported new infections in single digits while Mayiladuthurai added zero new cases, the bulletin said. Recording a rise of more than 600 cases in a day, Chennai logged 1,489 new COVID infections on Tuesday. The city accounted for more than half of the new cases reported in the State in a day. While five more patients infected by the Omicron variant were discharged, taking the active cases to 13, three more international passengers reported S-gene-drop and two others tested positive for COVID-19. So far, 311 international passengers have tested positive, of which 220 reported S-gene-drop and 121 Omicron cases have been confirmed in Tamil Nadu.