Delhi cops identify and quarantine 275 foreign nationals who attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation

The Delhi Police Special Branch has identified and quarantined 275 foreign nationals, who have been staying in various mosques after attending a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the Nizamuddin area, officials said on Thursday.

Among 275 foreign nationals, 172 are from Indonesia, 36 from Kyrgyzstan, 21 from Bangladesh, 12 from Malaysia, seven from Algeria, two each from Afghanistan and the US and one each from France, Tunisia, Belgium and Italy.

Eighty-four of them have been staying the Northeast district and 109 in Central district, they said.

The Nizamuddin Markaz, the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in south Delhi, has emerged as an epicentre for spread of the coronavirus in different parts of the country after thousands of people took part in a congregation from March 1-15.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi Police Special Branch wrote to the government on taking immediate action with regard to people, including foreign nationals, associated with Tablighi Jamaat and presently staying at various mosques and places here in the national capital.

"A team of district administration, police and health department are visiting mosques and evacuating foreign nationals and shifting them to quarantine. They were part of Jamat held at Markaz and to decongest the building, they were shifted to various mosques in the national capital," police had said.

Police had said they prepared a list of foreign nationals staying in various mosques across the city. No social distancing would be possible at those places. It may cause grave danger to public health and the objective of containing COVID-19, they said.