The Delhi Police on Wednesday wrote to Delhi Government seeking immediate action against the accused including 157 foreign nationals associated with Tablighi Jamaat meet in Nizamuddin, who are presently staying at various mosques and places in Delhi. This comes after the Delhi Police had registered FIR against Tablighi Jamaat preacher Maulana Saad and other members of the outfit under section 3 of The Epidemic Diseases Act (1897) for organizing the congregation at the times of severe lockdown amidst the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday evening also released a video dated March 23 of Nizamuddin Station House Officer (SHO) giving a stern warning to senior members of the Markaz Nizamuddin which played host to the controversial Tablighi Jamaat gathering.
#WATCH Delhi Police release a video of its warning to senior members of Markaz, Nizamuddin to vacate Markaz & follow lockdown guidelines, on 23rd March 2020. #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/2evZR6OcmB
— ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2020
This Islamic gathering has resulted in the spread of the Chinese coronavirus as those who attended took the viral infection to different parts of the country. In the video, the SHO can be heard warning the organisers for allowing 1,500- 2,000 Muslims to stay inside the Markaz despite repetitive directives and warnings. The angry SHO then stated that clear cut instructions have been given to prevent a gathering of over five people to ensure their own safety.
“Aap logon ko baar baar aagah karne ke bavajood bhi ye samasya hal nahin ho rahi hai (Despite repeated warnings this issue is not being resolved)”, said the SHO.
After serving a notice to one of the individuals present there the police officer makes it clear that if the directions are not followed he will be forced to take strict legal action. He also instructed the attendees to talk to the SDM for evacuating the 1,000 odd individuals remaining in the mosque premises.
The religious event held On March 21 in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area by the Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni organisation, has now sparked off a huge scare as most of the attendees have reportedly spread the Chinese virus across the country. More than 1700 Muslims had assembled for Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz in South Delhi out of which around 1530 hailed from India and rest from the foreign countries.
The thousands who took part in the event later returned to their homes in virtually every state. Many of these states, which have reported COVID-19 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. The state governments have now started identifying and locating these people in order to stop the transmission of Chinese virus among other members.
On Tuesday, the Home Ministry had blacklisted nearly 800 Islamic preachers for violating visa rules by visiting India on a tourist visa and attended the Islamic religious conference organised by the “Tablighi Jamaat”. The preachers were found staying at the Banglewali Masjid, the Mosque near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, earlier this month.
Another batch 48 foreigners who were hiding in mosques after attending the Markaz gathering in Nizamuddin have been located in five mosques of North-East District of Delhi by the Delhi police.
