State director-general of police (DGP) M.V. Rao is in home quarantine after he came back to Ranchi from Visakhapatnam where he had gone by car to meet his ailing mother who passed away recently.

Sources said Rao was doing fine.

Inspector-general (IG) of police (operations) Saket Kumar Singh, who is also the deputy spokesperson for state police, said: “DGP Rao is undergoing home quarantine for a few days in Ranchi. He had been to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to see his critically ill mother who passed away there.”

Singh said everyone with travel history within the country or abroad was duty-bound to undergo quarantine and DGP Rao was no exception.

“It is the primary duty of every citizen to follow the guidelines of Union home and health ministries and strictly adhere to precautionary measures amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” IG Singh said.

Palamau civil surgeon Dr John F. Kennedy said people with travel history should be placed under quarantine for 14 days either in their homes or at the government facilities for the larger interest of the society.

“Doctors in Ranchi must have taken the samples of DGP Rao for test,” Kennedy said.

IG Singh said the DGP was working from home.

“He is taking stock of every development. He is giving directions and is in touch with his officers over the phone,” the IG said.

Singh said retired Indian Police Service officer K. Vijay Kumar and CRPF director-general A.P. Maheshwari had also been in home quarantine during the third phase of the lockdown.

K. Vijay Kumar was the head of a special task force that had in 2004 killed notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.