Panic engulfed the Hazaribagh city after a coronavirus positive thief escaped for the second time in a week on Thursday evening by breaking through the window of an ambulance carrying him to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi.

The thief had earlier escaped from the washroom ventilator of a Covid ward in the Hazaribagh Medical College and Hospital (HMCH) last Thursday.

Police have launched a manhunt in surrounding areas for the robber, whose antics led two important police stations in the city to be shut and sanitised, and the infection of as many as thirty policemen, who tested Covid positive on Wednesday night.

The ambulance driver said they were taking the man from HMCH to RIMS on Thursday evening, but as the vehicle reached Gadhikhana road, he broke through the glass window and started shouting.

The driver stopped the vehicle and came out with another healthcare worker to check what was going on, when the thief opportunely jumped out and fled.

Superintendent of police Karthik S confirmed the escape and said a massive drive has launched in the area to nab him.

HMCH doctors and health workers said the man had created a ruckus in the hospital last week as well.

He had smashed a glass window in the Covid ward, creating a nuisance and demanding pills from them daily, neither taking food nor medicines and giving sleepless nights to all due to his habit of escaping.

The coronavirus positive thief in Hazaribagh Vishvendu Jaipuriar

A ward boy said the patients admitted here and discharged phase-wise.

“Everyone cooperated with us so as to recover as soon as possible. But he is a nuisance for all, shouting and demanding pills- in fact that was the reason he escaped from here on July 9”, he said.

The man’s parents live in Deoghar and he has been living here with his maternal grandparents. His mother died a few years ago and his father is not well.

HMCH superintendent Sanjay Sinha told The Telegraph Online said that the thief has become a nuisance for them as he was regularly creating trouble.

“I was getting complaints about him, so we decided to send him to RIMS. But again, he escaped,” said Sinha.

“He wasn’t eating or taking medicines, so it became tough for us to handle him”, he added.

According to Sinha, 54 new Covid cases were registered last night, of which 37 were from Sadar block, two from Barkagaon and 15 from Barhi block.

Out of 54, 30 were policemen.

He said so far, 7733 samples were tested in the district, out of which 6495 were negative.

“We are waiting for reports of 999 samples”, he added.

Sinha said the district has 307 coronavirus cases out of which 197 were discharged after recovering from the disease, and four have died.