Pune: 10 home quarantined Tablighi Jamaat members missing, Pune rural police files FIR

Pune, April 3, 2020: A total of 10 Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) members who were put under home quarantine in Pune’s Shirur town ran away today morning. Now Pune rural police have registered an FIR against all of them and started search operation to trace them.

However, they were not among those who attended the recent Tablighi Jamaat convention at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, said Pune Divisional Commissioner Dr Deepak Mhaisekar.

According to police, these 10 persons had returned from Delhi on February 23 and remained in Pune till March 6. And since then they were staying at a mosque in Shirur. When the Nizamuddin Markaz case came to limelight on April 1, these 10 persons were stamped for home quarantine and asked to stay put where they are. Police officials said that they escaped today morning and a police team is trying to search them.

With 12 new cases today, Coronavirus patients number increase to 72 in Pune district

There is an increase in 12 new Coronavirus positive patients in Pune district and the total number in the district has increased to 72.  The number of cases increased to 57 in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pune rural, while one new positive case found under Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) jurisdiction. There are 15 cases under PCMC now. Till now 18 persons in Pune district have been cured and discharged from hospitals.

What is Tabligh Jamaat ?

Tabligh Jamaat Headquarter (Markaz) is located in Nizamuddin, Delhi. Devout Muslims from across the country and also from foreign countries visit the Markaz for religious purpose. Some also move out in groups to different parts of the country for Tabligh activities. This is a continuous process throughout the year. The Government of India yesterday blacklisted 960 foreigner Tablighi Jamaat member for violating visa rules. They had come to India on tourist visa instead of missionary visa.

On March 21 , approximately 824 foreign Tabligh Jamaat workers were in different parts of the country for missionary work. Besides, around 216 foreign national were staying in the Markaz. In addition, over 1500 Indian TJ workers were also staying in the Markaz while around 2100 Indian TJ workers were touring different parts of the country for missionary work. Since March 23, lockdown has been strictly imposed by State authorities/PoIice across Delhi including in and around Nizamuddin and Tabligh work came to a halt.

Tabligh activities in India

• Tabligh Jamaat workers, both foreigners as well Indians, indulge in Tabligh activities (Chilla) across the country throughout the year.

• Various nationals, particularly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan come for Tabligh activities.

• All such foreign nationals normally report their arrival at Tabligh Markaz at Banglewali Mosque in Hazrat Nizamuddin in New Delhi. From here, they are detailed for Chilla activities to different parts of the country.

• Chilla activities in all States are coordinated by District Coordinators in different Districts, who, in turn, in some States are supervised by State Amirs.

• As on March 21, there were about 1746 persons staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz. Of these, 216 were foreigners and 1530 were Indians.

• Additionally, about 824 foreigners had been, as on March 21, doing Chilla activities in various parts of the country

• Also, a large number of Indian Tabligh Jamaat workers were also engaged in different parts of the country.

• Details of these 824 foreigners had been shared on March 21 with the State Police for identifying them, getting them medically screened and quarantining them.

• Besides, on March 28, State Police were advised to collect the names of Indian Tabligh Jamaat workers from the local coordinators, locate them on the ground, get them medically screened and quarantine them. So far, about 2137 such persons have been identified in different States. They are being medically examined and quarantined. This process is still on and more such people would be identified and located. On March 28, MHA also issued a detailed advisory to Chief Secretaries and DGPs of all States, as well as CP Delhi, on this issue .

• Again, State DGPs had been advised by DIB on March 29, to trace the movement of all such Tabligh workers in their area, ascertain the people coming in their contacts and take steps for their medical screening. Many States have already started doing this.

• All the Tabligh Jamaat workers staying at Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz are being medically screened since March 26. So far 1203 Tabligh Jamaat workers have been medically screened. 303 of them had symptoms of COVID-19 and were referred to different hospitals in Delhi. Rest of them have been moved to different quarantine centres at Narela, Bakkarwala and Sultanpuri. This process will continue throughout today to move every Tabligh Jamaat worker out of Nizamuddin Markaz.

• It is estimated that from January 1 onwards this year, approximately 2100 foreigners had visited India for Tabligh activities. While approximately 824 of them, as on March 21, were dispersed in different parts of the country, approximately 216 of them were staying at Nizamuddin Markaz. Others might have left the country before the lockdown.

• Bureau of Immigration has been sharing (since February 1) with State authorities, details of all international arrivals from affected countries based on Self Declaration Form filled-in by them.

• In addition, since March 6, Bureau of Immigration had also been sharing details of all the international arrivals (both Indians and foreigners) at all the international airports in the country to the concerned State, based on the permanent address mentioned in their passport, in case of Indians, and hotel address, in case of foreigners.