4 Ethiopian couples arrested for violations

CHENNAI: Four Ethiopian couples were arrested on Sunday on charges of indulging in religious preaching by defying lockdown and also in violation of the medical visas on which they were visiting India. Sources in the city police said they came to know that the foreign nationals are violating the quarantine after a worker of a madrasa tested positive for COVID 19 on April 4. 

Police said the Ethiopians were conducting preachings in small gatherings even after lockdown was implemented. They had also attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s conference. After the conference, they are said to have reached Chennai by train and have been staying in a madrasa.

The police booked them on April 4 after the madrasa staff tested positive and the Health department also collected samples of all eight. As the test results showed that they are negative for COVID-19, they were arrested on Sunday and later remanded to judicial custody.