Lucknow: The unsavoury Jamaat episode has sent alarm bells ringing in the UP administration which now faces an additional daunting task of tracing foreigners and Indians who had attended the Nizamuddin religious congregation.
Pulling up its socks, the Yogi government has ordered that anyone in the State, who has returned from abroad after March 1, must inform the authorities about it.
Helpline numbers have been put out for the purpose. Drones were deployed in Noida following arrest of nine Muslims on Thursday after their neighbours informed the police that they were offering group Namaz in an open terrace.
“Drones will now keep a tab on group activities which has the potential to spread the disease”, Commissioner of Police, Noida, Alok Singh, said. Noida carries the maximum corona burden in UP as 48 out of 121 cases in the State have emanated from the district. Meanwhile, the Darul Uloom of Deoband has issued a fatwa asking people to get themselves checked for corona.
“Those hiding the symptoms are not just risking their own lives but also putting others’ lives at risk, which is against the Sharia (Islamic rules),” said Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli in a statement. After two days of extensive raids in mosques across the State, the UP government has identified 1,172 Tablighi Jamaat members who had attended the Delhi’s religious meet in the March second week and quarantined 884 of them. The maximum numbers were traced in Meerut (304), Gorakhpur (187) and Bareilly (145). Two of them have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.
Most of them had got stuck on the way due to lockdown. “Their native districts have been informed about their quarantine. Besides, 287 foreigners have been found in the state of whom 286 have been quarantined; now, action will be initiated against them under the Epidemic Act and the Disaster management Act.
Over 32 FIRs have been registered so far in 13 districts against them”, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi told reporters here on Thursday. The passports of 211 foreigners have been seized so far, he said. Action will be taken against all those found hiding information. He also urged people to provide information about people who were not coming forward and identifying themselves.
