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Family claims Briton unlawfully arrested in Bhopal, police say he violated lockdown norms
After clams by the family of Sohail Huges, Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Vivek Tankha wrote to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to withdraw charges and release the man.
A British woman has accused Madhya Pradesh Police of unlawfully arresting her 29-year-old brother Sohail Hughes. As per report in British daily The Guardian, Hughes lives in Dewsbury in the United Kingdom, and had flown to India in February with the intention of returning on May 13.
“Sohail Hughes, 29, had been on an extended holiday to visit family in the Gujarat region before undertaking a pilgrimage of mosques when he was detained last month,” his sister Aatika told The Guardian.
“He was forced to take refuge in a mosque in Bhopal after being caught out by the swiftly implemented lockdown laws requiring people to stay off the streets. Sohail, alongside dozens of other men, had his passport seized before being kept in quarantine for more than a month inside a hostel,” Aatika, 35, futher said.
The incident prompted Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Vivek Tankha to write to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to withdraw charges and release the man.
“The family, the British government and the British media complain that a British national has been detained for spreading Covid-19 and violating visa regulations after being caught in the mosque with other people when in fact, he has been repeatedly tested negative for Covid-19,” Tankha said in the letter, a copy of which he attached with his Twitter post on Monday.
“Am truly distressed with story of Sohail’s arrest. I have appealed to state CM and director general police MP to withdraw the FIR & seek closure of the case. Such arrests & investigations are a blot on our criminal justice system,” Tankha said.
Additional director general (ADG) of police at Bhopal Upendra Jain said, “When we came to know about people in Nizamuddin markaz were found Covid-19 positive and many others who stayed with them visited different parts of the country, we searched all the mosques in Bhopal that led to detention of members of 32 jamaats including seven foreign jamaats. Each of jamaats had about 14 to 15 members. In all, 74 foreign nationals and a few other Indians with each of the jammats who accompanied them were detained.”
He said, “Sohail Hughes was staying in a mosque at Ahata Rustam Khan at Shyamala Hills with another Briton and 12 others from the Ivory Coast. As per our investigation, he was a part of a jamaat and staying in the mosque. He was preaching his religion which was a violation of tourist visa conditions.”
“All of them were detained and later booked for violation of tourist visa as well as under sections 188 (violation of order promulgated by government), 269 (negligently doing any act known to be likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (Malignantly doing any act known to be likely to spread any disease dangerous to life) of Indian Penal Code (IPC),” Jain further said.
The police officer said that these people were produced before a local court on May 15 which sent them to jail under judicial custody for 14 days.