The government said in a statement that foreigners who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat event had violated visa conditions.
New Delhi| The Centre has asked states to initiate action against the foreigners who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event as well as its organisers, for violation of visa conditions.
The Cabinet Secretary, in a meeting via video conferencing with all the Chief Secretaries and DGPs of states, also asked them to complete the contact tracing process on a war footing.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday registered a first information report against Tablighi Jamaat preacher Maulana Saad and others members of the outfit under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, for organising a congregation at Nizamuddin West Markaz earlier this month amid the coronavirus outbreak, The Indian Express reported.
Several cases of Covid-19 in Delhi as well as in other states have been traced to the congregation, which thousands attended. As many as seven people – one from Kashmir and six from Telangana, died of Covid-19 in the days following the congregation. The Delhi government had filed a case against the Markaz administration on Monday.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday released a video of its warning to senior members of Markaz on March 23 asking them to evacuate the building and follow lockdown guidelines imposed in the national Capital, ANI reported. The police also wrote to the Delhi government seeking immediate action against some people, including 157 foreigners associated with the event, and presently staying at various mosques and other places in the national Capital.
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#WATCH Delhi Police release a video of its warning to senior members of Markaz, Nizamuddin to vacate Markaz & follow lockdown guidelines, on 23rd March 2020. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/2evZR6OcmB
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2020
The Centre has declared the Markaz a coronavirus hotspot, NDTV reported on Tuesday. So far, 91 people who were among the attendees at the programme and their contacts, have tested positive for the virus. The highest number, 50, was detected in Tamil Nadu.
The gathering at Markaz in Nizamuddin West, the Delhi headquarters of the Tabligh-e-Jamaat was held earlier in March. Around 2,000 people, including foreigners, were in attendance at the event. The Markaz has now emerged as a hotspot of the novel coronavirus after a large number of people tested positive for the infection.
(Inputs From Agencies)
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