IT News
Mumbai, April 28
Eleven Tablighi Jamaat members from Indonesia, who had participated in the recent Tablighi Jamaat markaz in Delhi and who were over staying at Bandra in North West Mumbai, were arrested after the end of their quarantine period by the Mumbai police on Monday.
The accused who were arrested for alleged violation of visa rules, were being produced before the Bandra Metropolitan magistrate for remand on Tuesday.
Initially, ten members of Islamic sect “Tablighi Jamaat” were quarantined. One of them had tested positive. Finally all of them tested negative. The accused were a part of a group from Indonesia who were staying at a flat in Bandra, after they returned from Delhi on 29 March. These eleven arrested persons are among 156 foreigners booked for visa rules violations under section 14-B of Foreigners Act and other relevant sections of IPC.
The section 14 (b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946 (Penalty for contravention of provisions of the Act, etc) read thus: “Whoever— does any act in violation of the conditions of the valid visa issued to him for his entry and stay in India or any part there under;”.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that all these foreigners were granted a tourist visa for India, but they flouted the norms by visiting the Tablighi Jamaat markaz in Delhi last month. As of now nearly 15 offences have been registered by police in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Amravati, Nanded, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, and all the foreigners were kept in institutional quarantine
The 18 countries from which they came are: Indonesia 37, Kyrgyzstan 19, Myanmar 18, Bangladesh 13, Tanzania 11, Philippines 10, Kazakhstan and Ivory Coast 9 each, Malaysia 8, Togo 6, Djibouti 5, Brunei 4, Russia 2, USA, Benin, Iran, Ghana and South Africa one each.
The Maharashtra government’s stern action against 156 foreign nationals should be seen in the context of its earlier decision to cancel a two-day Tablighi Jamaat event held along the lines of the one held at Nizamuddin which became hotbed for Coronavirus cases.
