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Nizamuddin Markaz evacuees ‘creating law and order issues, commotions’ in hospitals: Delhi govt seeks security

Meanwhile, a case for obscene behaviour, non-cooperation and other charges was filed against some inmates of an isolation ward for suspected coronavirus patients at a hospital in Ghaziabad.

Nizamuddin Markaz evacuees ‘creating law and order issues, commotions’ in hospitals: Delhi govt seeks security

Nizamuddin Markaz evacuees being checked by officials before being taken to a quarantine facility amid concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo: AFP)

Coronavirus patients brought out from the Nizamuddin Markaz have reportedly created “commotions” in hospitals, Delhi Health Secretary Padmini Singla has said in a letter to the police chief.

Delhi health department authorities wrote to the city police commissioner on Thursday, seeking deployment of adequate security personnel at the hospitals designated for COVID-19 treatment and the quarantine facilities in the national capital.

Singla said the coronavirus patients brought from the Markaz in the Nizamuddin area and some other patients were triggering a “law-and-order problem” and “commotions” in hospitals.

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It said those who had congregated inside the mosque were brought out in a “massive exercise” held from March 30 to April 1, 536 of them were sent to various hospitals after they showed symptoms and 1,810 were sent to quarantine facilities.

One person from the Markaz, who was admitted at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, “attempted suicide”, but was saved by the hospital staff, the letter said.

Two other inmates at a quarantine facility in Narela had escaped and were tracked in Patparganj, Singla said in the letter.

During an interaction over a video link with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, a senior doctor had also said that the patients brought from the Nizamuddin Markaz were “not cooperating” with the medical staff.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital nearly doubled to 293 on Thursday from the 152 on Wednesday, with 141 fresh cases reported in a day, according to Delhi government authorities.

Two more deaths were reported on Thursday, taking the COVID-19 toll in Delhi to four.

These cases include 182 people who took part in a religious congregation in the Nizamuddin area last month, the Delhi health department said in a statement.

“In view of the above, I am directed to request you to deploy adequate police force at all the quarantine facilities and hospitals as per the list enclosed with the letter,” Singla said.

The listed hospitals are LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, DDU Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital and the isolation facilities at AIIMS, Jhajjhar, besides seven quarantine facilities across Delhi.

Meanwhile, it is also alleged that the members of Tablighi Jamaat have been allegedly misbehaving with the frontline warriors of coronavirus.

A case for obscene behaviour, non-cooperation and other charges was filed against some inmates of an isolation ward for suspected coronavirus patients at a hospital in Ghaziabad, the police had said on Thursday.

The complaint said that some Tablighi followers — who were rounded up and taken by bus to Ghaziabad on Tuesday and Wednesday for a medical check-up after they had been to the Markaz headquarters, said to be the new COVID-19 hotspot in the country, allegedly spat on police personnel and government officials.

A section of staff in Ghaziabad-based MMG Government Hospital wrote in a complaint to the Chief Medical Superintendent that, “many Jamaat members admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital were misbehaving with the employees and the nursing staff”.

The Jamaat members, many of whom are corona suspects, were seen roaming around in semi-nude condition in front of female nursing staff and singing obscene songs, the complaint said.

Reacting to such shameful incidents, Congress leader Jitin Prasada tweeted: “Shame on these Jamaat members who are further degrading themselves by attacking and misbehaving with the courageous medical professionals who are risking their lives to save them.”

In a frantic search of thousands of people who were participants of Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, the Government on Wednesday directed the police chiefs of states and Union Territories (UTs) to complete the contact tracing exercise on a “war footing” to check the COVID-19 spread.

The aim is not only to stop those who attended the congregation but also those they came into contact with inadvertently creating new clusters of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 infections across India.

According to the Health Ministry update issued on Thursday evening, about 400 positive cases found across 10 states and Union Territories have links to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.

Defying lockdown orders and social distancing rules, the Markaz building, which is the international headquarters of ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ from around last 100 years, continued to house about 2,000 people from different parts of the country and world.

The gathering, which featured sermons, was attended by over 2000 Tablighi members from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia. Members had also come from Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, Fiji, France and Kuwait.

The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against Maulana Saad Kandalwi of Nizamuddin Markaz and six others for violating government orders on management of the Markaz during lockdown.

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