Ahmednagar police have filed a case against two functionaries of a mosque from Nevasa taluka in the district for allegedly allowing 10 foreign nationals to stay at its premises during the Covid-19 lockdown, police said on Wednesday.
According to officials, these foreign nationals were found inside the mosque when the police were on patrolling duty late on Monday. The foreign nationals, according to Newasa police, were inside Bhaldar mosque also known as Markaz Masjid even as the functionaries of the religious place failed to inform the administration, despite instructions in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The offence was registered against two trustees of the mosque under Section 188 (disobeying an order issued by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Epidemics Diseases Act, 1897, the official said.
The action came against the background of two positive cases of Covid-19 in the last week of March in the district. Those two Covid-19 positive are nationals of Ivory Coast and France who along with 12 others had come for another religious congregation in Ahmednagar city. On Tuesday, three more persons who came in contact with the nationals of Ivory Cost and France, tested positive.
In the latest case, the foreigners, who hail from Ghana, Dakar, Djibouti and Benin, were staying at the Masjid since before the lockdown was imposed, said a senior police official.
{{/usCountry}}In the latest case, the foreigners, who hail from Ghana, Dakar, Djibouti and Benin, were staying at the Masjid since before the lockdown was imposed, said a senior police official.
{{/usCountry}}The men were shifted to a nearby hospital and the administration and health department has now collected their swab samples for testing.
Meanwhile, the Ahmednagar district administration has traced 46 persons comprising 29 foreign preachers and 17 workers of Tablighi Jamaat who had attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi which is the world headquarters of the Muslim missionary organisation.
District collector Rahul Dwivedi, said, “The administration has identified 46 persons who visited Delhi for the international meet and some of them who could be traced so far have been quarantined with samples being tested.”