More than 5,000 of those identified to have attended the congregation have been quarantined, including in hospitals across states.
Suspected Coronavirus patients in Nizamuddin area being evacuated from facility. (Photo: IANS)
Eight foreign nationals who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi were picked from a mosque in Babu Purwa area of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Friday. SP (South) Aparna Gupta told news agency ANI,”they have been quarantined and FIR has been registered against them. Further probe is underway.”
The development comes after the Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday registered 23 FIRs against over 100 foreigners who had violated visa rules and participated in Tablighi Jamaat activities in the state, officials said. They said over 100 foreigners, who are at present under quarantine, have been booked under the Foreigners Act as they were indulging in religious activities.
They said 236 foreigners were identified in the state and were put under quarantine. Out of them, police have so far booked over 100 foreigners for violation of visa rules as they were travelling on a tourist visa and indulging in Tablighi Jamaat activities, they said.
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The Uttar Pradesh Police has also identified 836 Indians who took part in Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi during the first week of March and all have been put under quarantine, the officials said.
Authorities across states on Thursday, have identified more than 6,000 people who attended the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat congregation last month, the biggest coronavirus hotspot in the country. More than 5,000 of those identified to have attended the congregation have been quarantined, including in hospitals across states, while efforts are on to trace another 2,000 including in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
Health Ministry officials have attributed the rise in the number of cases to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which took place in mid-March, but said that it, however, does not show a national trend. The Centre also asked all states and Union Territories to launch on a “war footing” the contact tracing of all participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, which has emerged as the coronavirus hotspot.
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