Police trace 165 Tablighi Jamaat members in Lucknow, book 51

Last month, the Tablighi Jamaat group had organised a massive congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin area which has now emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot.

After a spurt in Covid-19 cases among Tablighi Jamaat members, the police traced 165 of them in Lucknow and booked 51 for various violations, a senior police official said on Monday.

As Tablighi Jamaat members were not coming forward to get themselves tested for Covid 19, the state government pressed the intelligence wing into service to trace them. (Representative image)

Forty-six of these members had attended the Delhi Markaz, the officer added. Last month, the Tablighi Jamaat group had organised a massive congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin area which has now emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot.

“Twenty-three of the 46 are foreign nationals. So far, 51 (members) have been booked for different violations and more FIRs will be lodged,” Lucknow commissioner of police Sujeet Pandey said.

Fourteen Tablighi Jamaat members staying in Peer Bagh mosque of Indiranagar under the Ghazipur police station limits and two caretakers of the same place of worship were booked for lockdown violations, another police officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police, North, Sarvshreshth Tripathi said, “All of them and two mosque management people have been booked for (lockdown) violations. They were sent for quarantine.”

INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS ON THE JOB

As Tablighi Jamaat members were not coming forward to get themselves tested for Covid 19, the state government pressed the intelligence wing into service to trace them, a senior police officer said. Several intelligence sleuths were on the job while police were tracing the Jamaat members’ immediate contacts.

The senior police official said intelligence personnel were asked to collect information about all Tablighi Jamaat members, who returned home to Uttar Pradesh after attending religious gatherings held outside the state.