Delhi Police identifies 1830 attendees of Tablighi Markaz Congregation

New Delhi: Delhi Police has identified 1830 persons, including 502 from Tamil Nadu and 216 from Assam, who attended a religious congregation at the Tablighi Jamaat’s international headquarters in southwest Delhi from March 13-15, even as 24 Coronavirus positive cases have been reported from among those who congregated.

According to senior Delhi Police officers, said that those identified till now include 156 from Uttar Pradesh, 109 from Maharashtra, 107 from Madhya Pradesh, 86 from Bihar, 73 from West Bengal, 55 from Hydrabad, 45 from Karnataka, 46 from Ranchi, 34 from Uttarakhand, 22 from Haryana, 15 each from Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, 19 from Rajasthan, 21 from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 15 from Odisha and nine from Punjab.

Besides, 281 foreign nationals also attended the congregation at the religious group’s international headquarters Nizamuddin Markaaz in the middle of the Nizamuddin colony in southwest Delhi.

The Delhi Police source said that it was working on the number of people from Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi who were present there. The source said that the force was trying to identify the families of the persons who attended the programme to put them into quarantine centres after tests.

Meanwhile, the Tablighi Jamaat in a statement clarified that it had ‘informed’ officials and ‘sought permission’ to evacuate the people but was denied permission. It also shared what it said was evidence of the communication and authorities concerned and also slammed the media for misreporting.

‘When the Prime Minister announced the Janata Curfew to be observed on March 22, the ongoing programme in the centre was discontinued immediately.’

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