Kejriwal calls congregation a criminal act
The preacher, who led the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi and others, have been booked for violating the Government orders and exposing many to the threat of coronavirus.
The Delhi Police said it has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Maulana Saad and other members of Tablighi Jamaat under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for violation of Government directions in wake of coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described the congregation at Markaz Talbighi Jamaat at Hazarat Nizamuddin a criminal act. Kejriwal wrote to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to file an FIR against the organisers.
The CM said 1,107 people who attended religious congregation in Nizamudddin Markaz have been quarantined. “Out of 97 cases of coronavirus in the city, 24 were those who took part in the congregation earlier this month,” said Kejriwal.
Meanwhile, locals blamed authorities for not acting on complaints against gathering at Markaz despite the authorities being informed about it.
Over 3,000 people had gathered between March 1 and 18 at Markaz mosque.
Kejriwal slammed the organisers of the religious gathering saying it was “highly irresponsible” on their part to hold such an event at a time when thousands have died in other countries due to the pandemic.
Kejriwal said any lapse in performance of the officers related to the Nizamuddin case will not be tolerated and strict action will be initiated. He also stressed that there was no community transmission of coronavirus yet in Delhi and the situation is under control.
However, the residents of Nizamuddin on Tuesday accused the civil and police administrations of not heeding their complaints about a large number of people converging at the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz amid the coronavirus outbreak.
"Time and again, we brought to the notice of the administration and police that a large number of people gather at the Markaz regularly, but they did not pay attention to it," said a local resident.
Sheikh Mohammad Umar, the secretary of Nizamuddin West Resident Welfare Association, claimed that the RWA had brought the issue to the notice of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate concerned, local police and South Delhi Municipal Corporation, but "nothing happened".
The Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also said around 24 people, who took part in a religious congregation in Nizamuddin earlier this month, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
"People have been shifted to various places. Many who attended this congregation have been quarantined while around 335 people have been admitted to hospitals," said Jain.
He said screening of all those who participated in the event is being conducted by the Government.
Markaz Nizamuddin, which is the international headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat for close to 100 years, in a statement said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "Janata Curfew" on March 22, they discontinued the ongoing programme immediately, but a large number of people were stuck in the premises due to the closure of railway services on March 21.
Meanwhile, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) carried out mass exercise to disinfect Nizamuddin area. The civic body deployed 40 of its staff with shoulder mounted knapsacks pumps, jetting machine to disinfect the area. Also, sodium hypochlorite solution was also sprayed in the area twice a day, he said. Besides this, 50 safai saniks and four auto tippers were also deployed to maintain proper sanitation.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Tuesday has converted 240 EWS (Economic Weaker Section) flats at Bakkarwala into isolation ward for people suspected of coronavirus infection at a mosque in Nizamuddin.
The Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddun in South east Delhi was a ticking bomb for Covid-19. Delhi Police top brass ordered the scanning of Jamaat after it had received an advisory from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The advisory contained warning about the movement of some 2,000 foreign nationals and some of them having Covid-19 positive symptoms touring the hinterland.
Top placed sources said security agencies were alarmed after they noticed movement of around 800 foreigners who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddun.
These foreigners are suspected to be infected with deadly Covid-19 and had fanned across the country to spread the disease.
The Delhi Police and intelligence officials were alarmed to find that most of them had already left Delhi on March 21, three days before the national lockdown announced by Modi.
Security agencies had reasons to believe that foreigners having affiliation with Tablighi Jamaat were involved in a sinister conspiracy to spread the deadly virus among Indians.
On Tuesday, the Delhi Police teams detained over a dozen foreign nationals who were hiding in a mosque in Zakir Nagar.
They were taken for medical examination and are being kept under the watch, sources said. There is a strong possibility of some members of Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin, who "have come to the congregation, were Covid 19 careers".
Information provided by the immigration authorities has confirmed the arrival of over 2000 foreigners into India on tourist visa since January and they had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin, sources added.
