States rush to track down attendees, visa allegations surface: Nizamuddin developments today

Here’s a list of top stories from Hindustan Times newspaper.

Officials across the country have begun a frantic search for thousands who had been to the headquarters of a religious group in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area that has become the single-biggest source of Covid-19 infections in the country (at least eight deaths and 117 cases). An FIR has been registered against the head of Tablighi Jamaat and other officials for defying a series of government orders that restricted gatherings in the city.

People who took part in a Tablighi Jamaat function earlier this month aboard buses taking them to a quarantine facility amid concerns of infection on day 7 of the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus.(Biplov Bhuyan/HT Photo)

States scramble as pilgrims transgress

Officials across the country began a frantic search for thousands of people who had been to the headquarters of a religious group in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area that has now emerged as the single-biggest source of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections in the country, leading to at least eight deaths and 117 confirmed cases. Read more

Now a disease hub, Jamaat defied series of anti-Covid curbs

Delhi Police on Tuesday registered a case against Maulana Saad, the head of the Tablighi Jamaat, and other officials of the group for defying a series of government orders that restricted gatherings in the city in a scaled manner between March 13 and March 21, before a full-fledged national lockdown was put in place on March 25. Read more

Covid-19: What you need to know today

The meeting in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area was attended by around 2,000 people although there are reports that this is just the count of those who registered for the event, that there were many who didn’t, and that people came and left in batches. This was a wilful tragedy, brought about by foolishness, compounded by carelessness, and, at every stage, characterised by a clear disregard for the law. Read more

Genesis of India’s biggest hot spot

Tips about an infection hotspot at the Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin headquarters began trickling in to the Delhi Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme office that week, leading the district surveillance officer (DSO) to dispatch a team on March 26. Six people were found with symptoms at the building, isolated and sent for testing. Read more

Gravity of situation yet to dawn upon most Nizamuddin evacuees

A statement from the Markaz on Tuesday said that when the ‘janta curfew’ was announced for March 22, the ongoing programmes were discontinued immediately, but the sudden halting of rail services during the lockdown left them stranded. Read more

States rush to track down over 3,000 who attended Delhi’s Nizamuddin event

At least 11 state governments and union territories put hundreds of people under quarantine and tested them for the dreaded infection. Read more

FRRO, immigration bureau probe irregularities

Organisations under the Union home ministry like the Bureau of Immigration and Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) have a greater responsibility to monitor activities of foreign members of groups such as Tablighi Jamaat, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday. Read more

At least 216 likely violated visa regulations: Officials

At least 216 foreigners who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation this month in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, which has emerged as one of the biggest coronavirus (Covid-19) hot spots in India, violated visa norms by entering the country on tourist visas rather than the mandatory Missionaries visa, HT has learnt. Read more

Islamic missionary at centre of India’s Covid-19 outbreak

Ignoring the pandemic, an estimated 2,500 Sunni Muslim men belonging to several nationalities, each identically dressed in a white gown and skullcap, checked into a five-storey establishment called Markaz in Delhi’s Nizammudin area, part of a yearly routine. Read more