Eight more COVID-19 cases from IIT-Madras, tally now 191
Tamil Nadu govt orders Covid testing in all colleges
Chennai, Dec 15: Eight more people have tested positive for coronavirus on the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras campus here, taking the tally in the institution to 191, a senior health official said on Tuesday.
Out of the 978 samples lifted from the IIT-M since December 1, a total of 191 people have tested positive till date and results for 25 specimens alone were yet to be received, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary, J Radhakrishnan said.
From 104 on Monday, with the addition of 87 more positive cases, the IIT-M's COVID-19 tally stood at 191.
Six students have tested positive for the virus at Anna University too.
The Tamil Nadu government has intensified Covid testing on campuses and has ordered testing at all colleges and universities after the IIT-Madras break out.
For testing, as many as 539 samples were taken on Monday alone which includes workers in addition to students and from this batch, 79 tested positive, he said.
The overall positivity rate vis-a-vis the institution has however gone down to 15 per cent from about 20 per cent seen earlier, he said.
A majority of those affected were students and the rest being people like workers in canteens. All of them are being treated at the government-run King's Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research here.
Following the outbreak, the institute shut all its departments and classes were being held online.
Allaying fears over further spread of the virus in the area, the official told reporters that IIT-M was only a localised cluster.
Earlier, similar localised outbreaks were witnessed elsewhere like in a large textile store and in a gathering for a feast and hence, people should wear masks always without fail and follow all other norms to help prevent the virus spread, he said.
Testing would be done for those associated with facilities like canteens in educational institutions and mansions for early identification of positive cases and treatment, he said.
Media statement from #IITMadras - 14th December 2020 pic.twitter.com/atJSrxP1sR
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Realtor 'suicide': K'taka HM directs police to investigate circumstances that led to incident
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the police have been directed to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the "suicide" of Confident Group chairperson C J Roy, who allegedly shot himself dead his office here when I-T officials were present in connection with earlier searches.
Speaking to reporters, Parameshwara said the Income Tax Department had earlier conducted searches at Roy's company and were in the process of completing statutory procedures.
"There was a raid in his company in December (last). There is a rule that within 60 days a charge sheet has to be filed in the court. They had to finalise before February 4. Hence, he was summoned," he said.
Roy had recently returned from abroad and was cooperating with the authorities, he added.
"Three days ago, he had returned from Dubai. The I-T officials went to his office to record his statement. He too responded to it," Parameshwara said.
"In the meantime, Roy told the officials that he would be back in five minutes but he did not return even after 20 minutes. Then his suicide came to the notice."
Parameshwara said he has ordered a police inquiry into the incident.
"I have directed police officials to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the incident. Things will be clear only after the report comes out," he said.
He added that Roy's family has linked the incident to the I-T action. "Roy's brother has also given a statement that this incident happened due to I-T raids. Our police officers haven't looked into it from that aspect," he said.
When asked whether there was any political angle to the increasing Income Tax raids, the HM declined to speculate.
"As the Home Minister I would not say anything more than it," he said.
Clarifying on the scope of the probe, Parameshwara said, "Police will only investigate the suicide case. If something else emerges then that will also be investigated."
Real estate tycoon Roy, who was in his late 50s, suffered bullet injuries from his licensed firearm at his office near Richmond Circle in the city.
Soon after a gunshot was heard, staff members rushed to his room and found him lying in a pool of blood. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
I-T sources said searches on Roy's premises had begun about two months ago.
Roy's brother has alleged that he might have taken the extreme step due to pressure from the central agency.
Roy was originally from Kerala.
