IT News
Mumbai, April 24
Twenty five attendees of Tablighi Jamaat, including 13 Bangladesh nationals, 8 Malaysians and four Indians were arrested from Kausa-Mumbra area and remanded to judicial custody by the Thane Crime Branch (Maharashtra) after end of their quarantine period on Thursday.
The accused were booked on first April on charges of attending the Tablighi Jamaat’s gathering in Delhi earlier this year. They were initially quarantined and were arrested on Thursday, on charges of over staying in India, even after expiry of tourist visa.
The event, which was held at Alami Markaz Banglewali Mosque in South Delhi, in March, soon found itself in the centre of controversy after scores of the attendees started testing positive for the novel coronavirus. The police in several states have registered cases against participants.
According to the police, 25 of the attendees were traced to Mumbra and booked on April 1. “The accused included 13 Bangladeshi nationals, eight Malaysians and four local residents. As they had all exposed themselves to the infection, they were quarantined in a government facility at Shil Daighar,”(Navi Mumbai) a Crime Branch officer said.
The officer said the quarantine period ended on Thursday, after which the Crime Branch Unit I arrested them. “The accused have been charged with disobeying an order promulgated by a public servant and negligent act with respect to an infectious disease under the Indian Penal Code, along with sections of the Disaster Management Act 2005. Additionally, the foreign nationals have been charged under the Foreigners’ Act 1946 for violating the terms of their tourist visas,” the officer said.
