Another officer under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has died of Covid-19, the deadly disease caused by a new coronavirus strain that has killed over 239,600 globally.
Identified as sub-inspector (SI) Sultanul Arefin, 44, the policeman was undergoing treatment at Central Police Hospital (CPH) in the capital’s Rajarbagh, when he passed away at the intensive care unit around 7am on Saturday.
Dr Md Emdadul Haque, the superintendent of police at CPH, confirmed Dhaka Tribune of Sultan’s death from Covid-19.
He added that 528 other police personnel — who have been infected too — were also undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Sultanul, who was attached to the West Division of Police Order Management (POM) at Mirpur, is the fifth officer of Bangladesh Police to pass away from the deadly disease, according to an official statement.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son. His body has already been sent to his village home in Jamalpur.
Sultanul will be buried at the family graveyard there after a namaz-e-janaza.
Over the past week, SI Nazir Uddin of the Special Branch, assistant SI Abdul Khalek of POM, constable Ashek Mahmud of Dhaka North Traffic Division and constable Mohammad Jasim Uddin of Wari Division had died from the disease in the capital.
According to sources in the Police Headquarters, until Saturday, 741 members of Bangladesh Police have been diagnosed with Covid-19 around the country and 356 of them are from DMP alone.
Of the total, 232 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours.
Also, 57 policemen have so far recovered, while 1,250 policemen are still in quarantine and 174 in isolation.
Until Friday afternoon, health authorities in Bangladesh recorded 8,238 Covid-19 cases and 170 deaths.
