Coronavirus scare led two persons in Shamli and neighbouring Saharanpur to end their lives in the last 24 hours.
In Shamli, a 40-yeear-old suspected coronavirus patient ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling at an isolation ward of the district hospital on Thursday.
Later, Chief Medical Officer Sanjay Bhatnagar informed the local authorities about the incident.
District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur said, “A Delhi-based businessman and native of Kandhla was admitted to the isolation ward for COVID-19 like symptoms on March 31. Soon he slipped into depression and committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling.”
However, the police said that though the virus infection seemed to be the immediate reason for the extreme step, the deceased had also suffered losses in recent times and was under stress before arriving at Shamli earlier this week and being detected with the infection.
The police said that a sample test report of the deceased was yet to be received to confirm whether he had coronavirus infection or not.
A case was registered and the body was sent for autopsy.
In the neighbouring Saharanpur, Adesh Saini of Sherpur hamlet of Rampur Maniharan used to work as a clerk in sugarcane development department office in Nakud area of the district.
On Wednesday, a local found the doors of his office ajar even as they had been closed in the evening. As he went inside to enquire, he found the body of Saini, hanging from the ceiling. He immediately called the police.
During preliminary enquiry, the police found a suicide note in which Saini said that he was so scared that the coronavirus might infect his family members that he could not sleep for the last 10 days. He urged the authorities to transfer all his benefits to his wife so that she could look after their children.
Meanwhile in Muzaffarnagar, three policemen were injured when a crowd attacked them in Bhopa area on Wednesday.
As per reports, some locals were roaming in Morna-Karhera road in Bhopa area on Wednesday evening, despite the area being under lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Bhopa police station SHO, Inspector Lekhraj Singh, and two constables reached there and asked the people to go home. Meanwhile, several people attacked the cops with sticks and pelted stones at them, injuring three policemen in the process.
The injured were later admitted to the district hospital and one of them was shifted to a private hospital in Meerut due to his critical condition. A case naming nine persons and several unidentified persons was registered and five persons, including former gram pradhan Narasingh and two women, were arrested.
The police are searching the rest of the assailants.