4 places in Howrah, Kol on Sujit’s map

Kolkata: Scores of fire department officers — at least three of them, senior — Trinamool party workers and several others had to be quarantined on Friday as they came in proximity of fire minister

Sujit Bose

who tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday evening but before that, he had travelled across the city and surroundings — from Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata to Belur in Howrah, Salt Lake to Sreebhumi in Lake Town.

Sources from the state secretariat said Bose had visited Nabanna on May 19, a day before Amphan, to attend a meeting on the state’s precautionary steps to tackle the cyclone.

Bose’s home at Sreebhumi off VIP Road, where he and his wife are living in isolation, was on Friday morning barricaded. A massive sanitisation drive was launched on Canal Street, where all the gates of residential buildings and cars parked were sprayed with disinfectant. His office in Lake Town and the Sreebhumi Sporting Club, where he frequented, were also disinfected.

Director-general of fire services Jag Mohan, deputy director Tarun Sinha and director in charge Avijit Pandey were among those who had accompanied Bose to the Bally fire station on Wednesday to receive the body of Sukanta Sinha Roy (27), auxiliary fire operator who was electrocuted while climbing a tree to cut branches. Even the kin of the deceased reportedly came in direct contact of the minister who had consoled Sinha Roy’s father.

Bidhannagar Ward 38 councillor Nirmal Dutta, who had spent the better part of Monday with Bose, overseeing the cutting of uprooted trees in Salt Lake, has gone into home

quarantine

. So have six other party workers. “I remained confined to home on Friday. I will undergo a Covid test on Saturday,” Dutta said. Prominent party workers in Salt Lake Partha Chakraborty, Raja Bose and Dhruba Bose, who, along with Bose, had distributed relief and cleared roads, have also gone into home quarantine. “I have been at home since Thursday and advised all my party colleagues to do so. I don’t have any symptoms. But I fear test positive, the relief work for Amphan and lockdown in our locality will be affected,” said Chakraborty. Dhruba from Karunamoyee Housing said was taking all precautions, including taking homoeopathic immunity enhancement medicines. He plans to move into a New Town apartment to stay in isolation, away from his family.

Bidhannagar mayor Krishna Chakraborty said she met Bose well before a fortnight. “The last time I met Bose was before a fortnight. He has not visited Poura Bhavan for quite some time. It is not possible to know who all met him recently outside Poura Bhavan. All councillors are aware of the precautionary steps to be taken,” said Chakraborty.

Bose’s neighbours and residents of the area have also been tense as many visited him every day. He had also been involved in distributing food and relief materials among the needy in his Bidhannagar assembly constituency.