A 22-year-old man was nabbed from Haryana after fleeing a quarantine facility he was placed in subsequent to his arrest for smuggling liquor as he had claimed to have attended the funeral of an aunt who died of COVID-19, police said on Saturday.
The man, a resident of Sonipat district in Haryana, was arrested on April 10, along with an associate, in the Shadipur area here while transporting liquor illegally in empty cartons of milk, they added.
"They also had a curfew pass, but it wasn't signed by the district magistrate," a senior police officer said.
During interrogation, the man claimed that his aunt had died of coronavirus and he had attended her funeral, the police said.
The accused were granted bail as a local inquiry could not be completed at the time. They were initially taken to the Lady Hardinge hospital, where doctors collected their samples. Later, they were shifted to the Lok Nayak Hospital for a 14-day quarantine. They were tested there as well, the police added.
Upon inquiry, it was found that the man's claims were not true. The report from the Lady Hardinge hospital also showed that they had tested negative for the virus, police officials said.
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The accused had fled from the hospital on Wednesday evening and reached Sampla in Haryana on foot. He was nabbed from there and brought back, they said.
Police said they have not arrested him as they are waiting for test reports from the Lok Nayak Hospital.
However, a case under sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC has been registered against him, they added.