Gandhinagar, 8 October 2026: Barman had arrived in Gujarat with other security personnel for preparations for the National Unity Day (Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) parade scheduled at Ekta Nagar on 31 October. Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Vipula Pandya of Gandhinagar Civil Hospital confirmed the death to IANS.
He first reported to the hospital on 3 October and tested positive for dengue. Pandya said his condition and other medical parameters were satisfactory at that stage, so he was treated as an outpatient and advised rest and medication. He returned three days later, on 6 October, after his condition deteriorated. Tests showed a decline in his platelet count, and he was admitted. Early on Wednesday morning he developed chest pain and uneasiness, and later died, the RMO said.
Pandya told IANS that 43 dengue-positive personnel are now admitted in the indoor wards, up from 24 cases reported earlier. She clarified that the figure covers only inpatients and does not include suspected cases or those treated as outpatients. NDTV, citing the hospital, described the death as the first among visiting security forces in the present outbreak.
The personnel, drawn from the Border Security Force, CRPF and Indo-Tibetan Border Police and from different states, began arriving in Gandhinagar from 21 September and have been housed in government quarters in Sectors 28 and 29. According to an official statement reported by The Times of India, water had accumulated at the newly constructed housing complex, after which personnel contracted dengue and were taken to Gandhinagar Civil Hospital.
Following the initial cluster, Gujarat Health Minister Praful Pansheriya chaired a review on 6 October and directed intensified vector control. The Health Department has ordered intensive fogging, anti-larval measures, fever surveillance and patient tracking at the accommodation and the parade ground. The minister has also directed that four health workers be deployed in every block of the government accommodation and that no water be allowed to stagnate on the premises.
Statewide figures released by the Health Department place the outbreak in a wider seasonal context. Up to the 40th week of 2026, more than 1.39 crore blood samples were tested for malaria, with 1,401 cases detected, while more than 1.50 lakh serum samples examined at 42 hospitals yielded 2,345 dengue-positive cases. The minister has stated that malaria and dengue cases in Gujarat in 2026 were lower by 39.6 per cent and 20.6 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous year, and that stocks of anti-malarial medicines, insecticides and larvicides were adequate.
National Unity Day is observed on 31 October, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Ekta Nagar programme is expected to include police and paramilitary contingents. Hospital authorities have said the admitted personnel are under treatment; no further fatalities among the parade contingent have been reported.
