29 Tablighi Jamaat members arrested in Ahmednagar after quarantine ends

The main accusation against the foreigners is that of preaching while visiting India on tourist visas.

Twenty nine people, including 26 foreigners who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi last month, were arrested on Saturday for religious preaching while visiting on tourist visa and violating prohibitiory orders, police said.

The Tablighi Jamaat Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area which had emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot.(Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

They had been quarantined till Friday.

While the foreign nationals were remanded to police custody till April 24 by a local court in Ahmednagar on Saturday, the Indian nationals were remanded to judicial custody before being released on bail.

These 29 people were among 35 people who, police say, had attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s two-day congregation at its headquarters in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area. Cases were registered against them at various police stations in Ahmednagar.

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“These 29 people were found along with six others who tested positive for Covid-19 while these 29 had tested negative 15 days ago. While the positive cases are being treated, the others were in institutional quarantine until yesterday (Friday) and arrested today. The court remanded the foreign nationals to police custody and granted bail to three Indian nationals who had tested negative,” said Police inspector Dilip Pawar.

Of the 35 people who were booked - 29 were foreign nationals while six were Indians. Three foreign nationals and three Indians tested positive, while the 29 others were sent to institutional quarantine. Among the three foreign nationals who had tested positive, one is from Indonesia, one from Djibouti, and one from Ivory Coast.

Among the 26 arrested foreign nationals, 8 are from Ivory Coast, 3 from Tanzania, 4 each from Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam and Djibouti, and one each from Iran, Benin and Ghana.

Out of the group of 35 people, 14 were found in Kazi Masjid in Jamkhed, 10 were found in Bhaldar Markaz Masjid in Nevasa, and 11 in Mehraj Masjid in Ahmednagar.

Cases against them were registered on April 5 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Maharashtra Police Act, Maharahstra Covid 19 Regulation, Epidemic Diseases Act, the National Disaster Management Act and the Foreign National Act.