Bokaro: A total of 14 participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation event have been picked up by Bokaro police and were put in quarantine in a Madarsa Hostel at Lalmatia under Chandrapura police station in Bokaro district on Wednesday.
Bermo SDM Pream Ranjan said that all 14 participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin area were found staying in mosques at Pipradih village under Chandrapura police station.
“They have all been subjected to screening and sent into quarantine with clear instructions that if strict action will be taken against those if they break quarantine,” he added.
The SDO said, they admitted that they were rushed here after attending the Tablighi Jamaat congregation to propagate religion.
All the attendees aged between 18- 25 are being subjected to novel coronavirus testing, following the report, the decision will be taken on them, said Nutan Modi OC of Chandrapura police station.
“They were part of the same group that had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin in Delhi and then came to Chandrapura for some religious purpose,” she added.
They were identified as Md Anis, Md Sahid, Md Salim, Md Gulraj, Md Jalaluddin, D Mallik, Md Sekh Rajabul, S Ali, A Rashid, Ali Mohammad, Samim Khan, Md Nadeem, Sekh Allauddin and Md Ashif, police said.
According to the villagers, they were rushed at Pipradih four days earlier and took shelter in a Mosque which is about 100 years old.
Meanwhile, district police conducted a search in over dozens of the mosque, asked the caretakers of all mosques in the district to ensure that they inform the local police station if any Jamaat member or outsiders comes and stays at the mosque.
“If this information is not provided promptly, legal action will be taken against them,” said SP Bokaro Sujata Kumari Veenapani.
Last night, Kasmar police picked up 13 people who were returning to Dhanbad from Simdegha and sent them to quarantine center at plus two High Schools. They are engaged in construction work at Simdega as a daily wage earner, said OC of Kasmar police station.
While 20 more daily wage earners were picked up at Chas-Purulia (West Bengal) border and sent into quarantine at Chas Block Office. They were engaged in construction work at Odisha and returning their homes ‘on foot’ after the lockdown. They are residents of Giridh, Dhanbad, Jamtara, Bokaro and Chaibasa.
Three couples were also identified and asked for 14 days home quarantine. They were recently returned back after participating in the Jamaat congregation in Bangladesh.
“Although they do not show any symptoms at the moment, they will be investigated further,” added Civil Surgeon.
Notably, the Jamaat held a religious congregation at its New Delhi headquarters in early March, where thousands of people who took part included senior preachers from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia where COVID-19 had already spread.
After the congregation, participants left for various states, some of whom later developed symptoms of COVID-19. It all, however, went unnoticed until a 65-year-old man, resident of Jammu and Kashmir, died last week.
Since then, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, West Bengal, residents of states who visited, have reported cases linked directly or indirectly to the congregation.
The government identified it a ‘virus hotspot’ and quickly worked to seal off the area and trace everyone who had links to the meet. In Telangana alone, more than 700 of those who attended the gathering have been quarantined, with 9 dead, media reported.
Among all the affected states, Tamil Nadu faces the biggest problem where 1,500 people attended the Delhi event, out of which 658 have been identified. Of these, 190 have tested positive, it said.
In Karnataka, out of the 1500 people who attended the congregation, so far 190 have tested positive, and 250 people, including foreigners, have been quarantined. There has been 1 casualty in the state till now.
In West Bengal, out of 100 people who attended the congregation, 54 have been traced and quarantined so far, while 16 still remain untraceable. From Uttar Pradesh, 569 people attended, of which 500 have been identified and put in isolation. 69 people are still untraceable.
Quarantine efforts were also underway in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Assam, where the number of untraced persons is much higher.
