The health administration, in view of the current situation, has written to the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Police to track the case. (Representational Image) The health administration, in view of the current situation, has written to the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Police to track the case. (Representational Image)

AS MANY as 24 foreign nationals, whose list was provided to the health administration of Panchkula by the Centre on Thursday, could not be traced. According to official sources, the 24 foreign nationals who had landed at Delhi airport had all given an address of Panchkula and a landline number as well.

Upon the Panchkula health administration’s visit to the given address, it was found that the address belonged to a private school in Sector 21 and the landline number provided was that of the school’s reception.

The list provided to the health department was a mixed list with several names and addresses on it. The department had to first sought out the list of individuals in their area and then track them.

“It was only upon making a list of our own did we realise that all had given the same address and contact number. As we went to the location to check on them, we found that nobody was there and it was a school”, said a senior official who was a part of the visit to the school.

The list provided did not even mention any passport numbers through which the people can be traced or even the countries of the nationals.

“It mentioned all the countries at the top including Italy, Spain, Iran, US, Germany, China, Korea, Japan, and France. We are not sure if they are from different countries or from one country and these are the names of all the countries the people of the total list were from,” said another senior official of the hospital, denying to be identified.

The health administration, in view of the current situation, has written to the Deputy Commissioner as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Police to track the case.

As for now, the administration suspects that either the foreign nationals have themselves given false information or it is the owner of the school that is hiding something.

“The manager of the school who was present there has given us in writing that no such person is with them, but maybe the owner might know more. The administration and the police will get in touch with them. We cannot investigate the matter any further”, said the nodal health officer of Panchkula.

Meanwhile, the Government of India, to contain the virus spread, has issued a notice that no scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft shall be allowed to land in India from March 22 for one week.

Confirming the case of missing foreign nationals, the Deputy Commissioner of Panchkula, Mukesh Kumar Ahuja said, “Yes, the 24 foreigners who entered the country provided their destination as a school here in Panchkula. School has given us in writing that no event or visit was scheduled by them in any manner. We have written to the police and they are looking into it. I have further asked them to submit a report regarding their findings tonight. We will see what steps need to be taken further on.”

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