Mumbai: A strong link has emerged between the first coronavirus case reported in Dharavi and those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin.
The unravelling of the contact trail of a Covid-19 positive man, a 56-year-old resident of Dharavi's Shahu Nagar area, who died on April 1, has led the BMC and the Mumbai Police to a cluster of 12 people belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat.
The Shahu Nagar police were helping civic officials retrace the toxic footprints of the deceased. During the probe, the police received credible information that some people belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat had stopped by.
According to the input received by the Shahu Nagar police and the BMC, six men, who are members of the Jamaat, along with their wives, had stayed at a flat owned by the deceased in Baliga Nagar SRA building.
During the investigation, we found that the deceased, a Covid-19 patient, had another house in the same society in Baliga Nagar, Dharavi, where six couples from the Tablighi Jamaat had stayed. This could be the likely source of contraction of the virus. We are trying to ascertain that, and the probe is on," Niyati Thakkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 5), told The Free Press Journal.
According to the police, the group of twelve had their meals at the deceased's second flat after the men returned from Delhi. While one of the couples left on the day of their return from Delhi, the other five couples stayed back for a day or two more and are believed to have left for Kerala on March 24.
The men slept at a local mosque at night and the women at the flat, police sources said. "According to the input we have received, these men had reportedly visited Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. The group is reported to have left for Kerala on March 24, before the lockdown came into effect at midnight. The deceased was the contact person for this group and arranged food for them.
We will pass on these inputs to the BMC health department for further contact tracing," Thakkar added. According to the deceased's family, he did not have a passport or any travel history. The lab test results of high-risk contacts of the deceased identified in Dharavi are awaited.
Meanwhile, the civic body has sealed a total of nine buildings with 308 flats, 90 shops and 2,500 residents. A general practitioner and his compounder have also been quarantined as the deceased visited his clinic on March 23 for treatment of cold and fever. "All those residing in the building of the deceased will be tested for Covid-19, if found symptomatic.
Our health team will survey the building and identify senior citizens and people with respiratory issues. We are awaiting more leads from the police on the Tablighi Jamaat link in the ca - se,” said Kiran Dighavkar, Asst Municipal Commissioner of G (North) ward.
