MUMBAI
At least 52 people in Maharashtra who visited the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters for a religious programme in New Delhi – which has emerged as India’s largest hot spot for the coronavirus outbreak -- have been traced by the district administrations and the police.
About 23 people from Thane district’s Mumbra and 29 others from Ahmednagar have now been placed in 14-day mandatory quarantine in their respective districts, and are under close watch for symptoms of the disease, according to state government officials.
“We have initiated a tracking method in which, as of now, around 52 persons have been tracked down in connection with the Tablighi Jamaat event and the operation is going on across Maharashtra,” a senior official from the state home ministry told HT on condition of anonymity.
Several states across the country are tracking down people who attended the Tablighi programme in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area. Around 2,000 people, including over 200 foreigners, reportedly visited the headquarters of the Muslim sect in mid-March, flouting several restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the virus. Out of these, more than 100 tested positive for Covid-19 till Tuesday while at least nine deaths are linked to the programme.
Of the 52 traced till Wednesday – all of them preachers -- 13 are Bangladeshi nationals, 8 Malaysian and 2 from north-eastern states. The Union government had hinted a day before that the foreign nationals who visited Nizamuddin might have violated Indian visa norms by attending a religious event on tourist visas instead of the Missionaries visa.
{{/usCountry}}Of the 52 traced till Wednesday – all of them preachers -- 13 are Bangladeshi nationals, 8 Malaysian and 2 from north-eastern states. The Union government had hinted a day before that the foreign nationals who visited Nizamuddin might have violated Indian visa norms by attending a religious event on tourist visas instead of the Missionaries visa.
{{/usCountry}}State officials said that the 29 traced to Ahmednagar had also attended another religious function organised at a dargah in Jamkhed, around 76km from the district.
According to officials the state health ministry, none of those tracked down have so far shown symptoms of Covid-19, but will undergo a detailed check-up and will be monitored for 14 days.