The accusation of playing down the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the state, repeatedly hurled at West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee by Opposition parties ranging from the BJP to the CPM, was today echoed by the inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) sent to the state by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

While winding up their two-week visit to the state, IMCT team leader Apurva Chandra wrote to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha that West Bengal was having the highest Covid mortality rate in the country. “The state needs to be transparent and consistent in reporting figures and not downplay the spread of the virus,” he wrote, putting the figure of mortality rate in the state to 12.8 per cent which was “by far the highest in the country.”

Chandra also mentioned that the state did not support the central team.

Meanwhile a BSF jawan deployed with IMCT team in West Bengal has tested Covid positive. Around 50 personnel in Kolkata have been quarantined. Two floors of the force’s Delhi headquarters have been sealed.