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In Uttarakhand, police may book Nizamuddin attendees
As many as 26 people, including 18 who attended the gathering, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand.
The Uttarakhand police on Sunday warned that residents of the state, who last month attended a gathering at Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Delhi that has since emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, will be booked for “murder” and “attempt to murder” if they fail to report to the authorities by April 6 and in the meantime infect others with the disease.
As many as 26 people, including 18 who attended the gathering, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand. The state police suspect many others who were a part of the congregation have not shown up for testing in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts bordering Uttar Pradesh.
Uttarakhand police chief Anil Kumar Raturi issued a video message saying the state intelligence wing has identified many followers of the Jamaat and were searching for more, who are either hiding or trying to sneak into the state discreetly.
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“I want to appeal to all those Jamaatis to come forward and present themselves before the police by April 6. If they fail to do so and police find them after April 6, those caught will be booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Disaster Management Act. However, if anyone gets infected due to their negligence, we will file cases against them on charges of attempt to murder and murder also,” Raturi said.
He also said if the Jamaat followers come forward on their own, they will be provided all medical help. Raturi added that those under quarantine were cooperating with the authorities.
The spurt in Covid-19 cases linked to the Jamaat gathering continued on Sunday in the southern states. In Tamil Nadu, where the number of cases increased to 571, 85 Jamaat gathering attendees were tested positive for Covid-19. Of these 571 cases, 522 had attended the Delhi meet, according to government data.
Half of the eight people tested positive in Kerala on Sunday had attended the gathering in Delhi. “As of date, 10 people, who returned from Nizammuddin in Delhi, have been tested positive,” said Kerala health minister K K Shailaja.
In Karnataka, seven new coronavirus cases were confirmed on Sunday. Five of them also participated in the Jamaat congregation. A Telangana ophthalmologist has been placed under hospital quarantine after it emerged that he had attended a preparatory meeting for the Jamaat congregation, officials said.
In Uttar Pradesh, authorities said that 1,205 people from the state, who attended the congregation in Nizamuddin, have returned and been quarantined. In all, 1,499 persons from the state, who attended the Jamaat gathering, have been identified, said additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Awasthi.
He said among the attendees were 305 foreigners, whose passports have been seized. Cases have also been registered against 295 foreigners, he said. So far, 138 of the attendees have tested positive and that is a reason for concern, he said. Awasthi said contact tracing of all the positive cases was being done. “We have also got complaints that attendees were not cooperating with hospital authorities,” he said.
(With agency inputs)
