A cop in India lost a hand during an attack that occurred while the officer and others were attempting to enforce COVID-19 containment measures.
Per a report from CNN, the incident—which occurred Sunday morning in northern Punjab state—resulted in one Indian police officer having his hand chopped off and six other officers injured. A vehicle carrying seven men who, per the report, "belong to the minority Sikh warrior sect known as the Nihangs" was stopped at a barricade. Cops then asked for valid travel passes to be presented, at which point a sword was brandished and assistant sub inspector for Punjab Police Harjit Singh had his hand chopped off.
After nearly eight hours in surgery, the officer's hand is said to have been reattached. The seven men accused in the attack were ultimately arrested, though an investigation remains ongoing as of Monday morning.
A nationwide lockdown as part of COVID-19 containment efforts was set to lift on April 14. The lockdown, which started March 25, has been extended in several states including Punjab. As of Monday, India's total number of cases was estimated by regional health officials to be 9,152.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Trump spent Sunday evening retweeting a call to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci—the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key voice on the impact of the novel coronavirus—after Fauci expressed his assessment that more lives could have been saved if stricter containment measures had been put in place at an earlier date.
