Delhi Police personnel part of evacuation team at Nizamuddin Markaz sent on leave

At least 10 police personnel, who were part of the team which evacuated people from the Nizamuddin Markaz building have been sent on leave as part of a "routine rotation process," Delhi Police said on Friday.

"10-12 police personnel have been sent on leave. It is a routine rotation process (after lockdown) and co-incidentally these 10-12 police personnel are those who were part of the evacuation team at Nizamuddin Markaz," an official said.

The Tablighi Jamaat event at the Nizamuddin has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government, in a joint operation with the police, evacuated over 2,300 people from the Markaz and sanitised the area. Evacuees were sent to hospitals or put under quarantine at different facilities.

An FIR was earlier registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 in the national capital.

Several state governments are tracing and identifying all those who attended the gathering. A large number of people in different states have already been placed under quarantine as a precautionary measure.