Bhopal: An offence was registered against 64 foreigners, including some COVID-19 patients, and 10 others from different states, all of whom were found hiding in Bhopal after attending Delhi's Tablighi Jamaat event held last month, a police officer said on Friday.
Police have also registered a case against 13 local residents, who provided shelter to them in different mosques and caused the spread of coronavirus infection, said Additional Superintendent of Police (Zone-1) Rajat Saklecha on Friday.
"All these 74 people lived in different mosques of the city and hid from the authorities that they took part in Tablighi Jamaat event held in Delhi's Nizamuddin. All of them were traced over the last few days," he said.
The men were booked under sections 188, 269, 270 of Indian Penal Code, Section 13 of Disaster Management Act and Section 14 of Foreigners Act. The cases were registered in several police stations across the city on charges ranging from visa rules violations and breach of administrative orders.
The congregation at the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi has turned out to be one of the key sources in spread of the virus in several parts of the country.
"The 64 foreigners are from countries like Myanmar, Indonesia, France, Belgium and Kyrgyzstan. They have been booked under the Foreigners Act and different sections of the IPC," Saklecha said.
So far, 20 attendees, including some foreigners, of the Tablighi event have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state capital and are being treated in different hospitals. "The rest were quarantined and their samples have been sent for testing," he added.
"Besides the 64 foreigners, 10 other attendees of the Nizamuddin event, who hail from different states of the country, have been booked," he said.
FIRs were registered against them in five separate police stations of the city as they stayed in different parts, the ASP said.
"The foreigners will be fined and deported after their recovery. Besides, the central government is going to blacklist them and ban their entry into India in future," he added.
"The Indian government had categorically mentioned in its rule that the Tablighi Jamaat members from foreign countries should come on missionary visa and they are forbidden to propagate their religion on tourist visas. This is an old rule," he added.
All of them have been accused under sections 188 (disobeying order duly promulgated by a public servant), 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to the life of people) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC and the Disaster Management Act, he said.
Meanwhile, violations of lockdown orders were reported from Chhindwara and Sagar districts on Friday with local Muslims gathering to offer prayers together.
The men have been put in quarantine by the administration. Around 40 Muslims gathered in the Chaurai area in Chhindwara to offer namaaz at a mosque. The men were booked under Section 188 of the IPC after a video of the incident went viral. They were later released on bail.
In a similar incident in Sagar, about 10-15 men were booked for gathering on the roof of a house in the Ambedkar Nagar area to offer namaaz.
(With inputs from PTI)
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