As many as 20 COVID-infected patients escaped a hospital by hoodwinking the authorities in Uttarakhand's Narendra Nagar.

According to PTI, a total of 28 people were being treated at the hospital, of which 20 of them were found missing when doctors visited the wards on Saturday night for a regular check-up.

While, two of the escapees hailed from Uttarakhand, the rest were from different states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Haryana.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the missing persons under the Disaster Management and Epidemic Diseases Acts. A search operation has also been launched.

Notably, this comes at the backdrop of a devastating second wave of COVID-19 where over 3700 pilgrims tested positive for the virus in a matter of 2 weeks in Uttarakhand's Haridwar during Kumbh mela.