Covid-19: 56 foreign nationals sent to judicial custody

According to the police headquarters, police detained them after Digha locality people raised an alarm about their illegal stay in the mosque when delegates of the Tablighi Jamaat, a religious congregation, died in Telangana.

At least 56 foreigners, including 16 Kyrgyzstan nationals, 14 from Malaysia, 9 from Bangladesh and 17 from Indonesia who were spotted at separate mosques in Patna, Buxar, Araria and Kishanganj and later put under home quarantine, were finally sent to judicial custody late on Monday night after the Emigration Department sent a directive to the Bihar police. All have been found to have Tablighi Jamaat connections.

Members of a Delhi Police Crime Branch team in Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits during an investigation into the Tablighi Jamaat incident at the Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid, on day twelve of the 21 day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, in Nizamuddin, New Delhi, India, on Sunday, April 5, 2020. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

Patna SSP Upendra Sharma said on Tuesday that 16 people from Kyrgyzstan and one from Kazakistan had been sent to judicial custody after two separate FIRs were lodged against them with Digha and Phulwarisharif police stations.

The case was lodged under section of 14b of the Foreign National Act, which provides for five years of imprisonment to the guilty. In the course of investigation, police found that these preachers used tourist visa to enter India but later indulged in religious preaching activities. Their passports have been seized by the police.

According to the police headquarters, police detained them after Digha locality people raised an alarm about their illegal stay in the mosque when delegates of the Tablighi Jamaat, a religious congregation, died in Telangana.

During interrogation, they confessed they had attended Nizamuddin Markaz function and returned to Patna in March. Their visa was valid till July this year, they said.

All the 17 foreign preachers tested Covid-19 negative but were placed under quarantine. All 17 have now been sent to judicial custody as their quarantine period came to an end.

Sharma said 10 Kyrgyzstan nationals were staying in Kurji mosque and seven in Phulwarisharif mosque. He said they were taken to AIIMS-Patna on March 23 and screened.

“They are here on tourist visa and with valid passport. For precaution, they had been home quarantined. One group stayed at a mosque in Phulwarisharif and another group in a flat at Samanpura. Local police stations have kept their passports so that they did not move during the quarantine period,” Sharma said.

Kishanganj SP Kumar Ashish said that 11 foreigners, one from Malaysia and the rest 10 from Indonesia, were detained when they alighted from a train on March 22.

Another group of 13 persons, including seven from Indonesia and four from Malaysia, were detained on March 28 from a mosque located at New Bhojpur locality of Dumraon sub-division in Buxar district. After a preliminary examination, all of them were quarantined in a local madarsa. According to the Buxar DM Aman Samir, all the foreigners entered India on March 3 and preliminary investigations showed all had Jammat connection.

In Araria, a Malaysia national, preacher, identified as Md Khairani Bin Lookman, 65, had reached Araria on March 21 died on March 26. He had landed in Delhi on March 6.

Araria SP Dhurat Saayli Savlaram said all the 18 foreign nationals, including 9 from Malaysia and 9 from Bangladesh, were arrested from Araria and Narpatganj police stations area and were sent to judicial custody on Tuesday.

The union home ministry had earlier blacklisted tourist visas of over 700 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members for violating visa conditions by engaging in missionary activities in India.

The home ministry has also asked the states and union territories to take action against foreign Tablighi Jamaat members for violating the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946

They could not only face deportation but also end up paying a penalty.

Earlier, Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba had told the chief secretaries and DGPs of all states to initiate intensive contact tracing of Tablighi Jamaat participants.

Bihar witnessed an increase in Covid-19 cases after Tablighi Jamaat delegates from the Nizamuddin Markaz came to the state. At least eight persons in Begusarai and Nawada districts have been found Covid-19 positive after coming in contact with the people who attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event.