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Eight Malaysians linked to Tablighi Jamaat caught boarding flight at Delhi airport
New Delhi Eight Malaysian nationals were intercepted by immigration authorities and deboarded from a flight to Kuala Lumpur after they were identified as Tablighi
New Delhi Eight Malaysian nationals were intercepted by immigration authorities and deboarded from a flight to Kuala Lumpur after they were identified as Tablighi Jamaat members, said officials.
A Malindo Air Flight from Delhi to Kuala Lumpur via Mumbai was to depart with 30 Malaysians as part of an evacuation exercise at around 12.30pm when the suspects were asked to deboard.
The eight men are Helmi Bin Zakaria, Mohammed Lukman Hakim Bin Hasim, Mohammed Zakri Bin Kamluddin, Mohammed Zaki Bin Abdul Malik, Mohammed Rafiq Bin Hussain, Mohammed Syafiq Bin Nordin, Hariz Adam Bin Hussain and Mohammed Syurabil Ehsan.
“All of them are aged between 25 and 32 years. We had information about them and they were intercepted soon as they headed for immigration clearance. We had lookout notices against several foreigners who are believed to have attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at its Nizamuddin headquarters in March in violation of their visa conditions. They were handed over to the Delhi police for further action,” said an officer from the airport, who did not wish to be named.
Their travel history showed that all of them had arrived in India in the first week of March, on different dates, to attend the congregation, the officer added.
The ministry of health and family welfare was also alerted about the development.
Deputy commissioner of police (IGI airport) said that the men were handed over to the crime branch.
A police officer who did not wish to be named, said these men underwent basic medical screening at the airport by the APHO (Airport Health Organization) staff. “Their detailed medical reports are awaited. They were taken away and will be kept under quarantine. They are yet to be questioned about where had they been hiding since the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering came to light. Their background is also under verification,” the officer said.
The government has already blacklisted over 900 such foreigners and invoked provisions of the Disaster Management Act and the Foreign Management Act against them.
Over 2,000 Tablighi Jamaat activists were evacuated from the Nizamuddin building last week and several hundreds of them spread out to at least 17 states. The health ministry has linked close to one-third of all Covid-19 infections in the country to Jaamat members and their contacts. A home ministry release that announced the blacklisting of 960 foreigners for attending the congregation in violation of the visa rules said most were from Indonesia (379), Bangladesh (110), Kyrgyzstan (77), Myanmar (63) and Thailand (65).
Many foreign nationals who attended the religious gathering, among other Indians, have tested positive for Covid-19 and nearly 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts have been quarantined across the country so far, a home ministry official said on Saturday.
