Eight foreign Tablighi Jamaatis sent to prison

Anant Shekher Misra | TNN | Apr 30, 2020, 04:09 IST

Kanpur: Eight overseas Tablighi Jamaatis who had participated in the event at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi were sent to jail under judicial custody on Tuesday. Police had produced them in court of remand magistrate late in the evening and charged them with spreading the novel coronavirus infection in the city.
The magistrate remanded them in judicial custody and sent them to temporary jail set up at a pharmacy college in Chaubeypur.
The magistrate granted bail to three Jamaatis hailing from Kerala, Gujarat and Indore.
Police said a group of 11 Jamaatis, including 8 from abroad, had reached the city in between March 14 to 16, 2020 after staying at Nizamuddin Markaz. Among them, four belong to Afghanistan, three to Iran and one is from UK. Three others were natives of Kerala, Indore and Gujarat.
The police had taken them under custody on a tip of Local Intelligence Unit and sent them for medical examination to Ursala Horseman Hospital. Three of them were found infected while others were quarantined. They are now cured after treatment.
A case was registered against them at Babupurwa police station for visiting India on a tourist visa and indulging in religious publicity and propagation. They had also not informed police and administration about their stay in Kanpur and did not report for screening despite numerous public appeals.
Police booked them under section 144 CrPC, section 269/270/271 of IPC, section 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and section 14 of Foreigners Act.
Babupurwa police station in-charge Rajeev Singh told mediapersons, “All of them were produced before the magistrate after their quarantine period ended. The court remanded them under judicial custody and sent them to temporary jail in Chaubeypur.”