BMC officials along with police search for people who had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, on Monday. (Photo: Ganesh Shirshekar) BMC officials along with police search for people who had attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, on Monday. (Photo: Ganesh Shirshekar)

Police have booked 150 people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in New Delhi last month and returned to Mumbai after the state government declared a curfew on March 23. The accused have been also charged for failing to disclose to the local authorities that they had come into contact with foreign nationals.

The FIR, filed at Azad Maidan police station on April 3 on a complaint of the Mumbai Fire Brigade, states that the 150 Jamaat members had attended the two-day congregation in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin locality between March 13 and 15 which was attended by more than 4,000 people, and had come into contact with members from countries on whom the state government had announced restrictions on arrival in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a March 16 order, the state government had instructed that all passengers arriving from Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE and USA after February 15 would have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Earlier, a similar order was passed for passengers arriving from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany.

Through an order issued on March 23, and announced by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray the next day, the state had sealed its borders the until March 31 to check the spread of the virus.

“We have booked all those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Delhi because they returned to Mumbai after the lockdown came into effect,” said Vasant Wakhare, senior inspector, Azad Maidan police station.

The Jamaat members were booked under sections 188 (violating an order issued by a public servant), 269 (committing a negligent act likely to spread infection or disease dangerous to life) and 270 (committing a malignant act likely to spread disease or infection dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code.

The FIR states, “The accused attended the congregation despite knowing that a large number of foreign nationals would be present and that there was a risk of COVID-19 spreading there. After attending the congregation, they returned to Maharashtra and Mumbai and despite knowing that could spread the virus, and failed to disclose their travels to local authorities or visit hospitals to get themselves checked, thereby committing a negligent act.”

While the FIR states that only individuals engaged in essential services and vehicles supplying necessary goods were allowed to enter the state after March 23, Wakhare refused to elaborate on how the Jamaat members had managed to reach Mumbai in those circumstances.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh also did not respond to phone calls and a text message seeking comment in the matter.

The 150 people named in the FIR are residents of south Mumbai and the city’s western and northern suburbs, police said.

Until last week, the state government had traced over 1,026 people from Maharashtra who had attended the congregation and quarantined 200 of them in Mumbai.

On Monday, the Mumbai Police also requested all those had attended the Jamaat to report their travel details to the BMC’s helpline, failing which they would face criminal action under the Indian Penal Code, the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.

“As per a list prepared by police, many people are untraceable since they had switched off their phone and can’t be tracked through GPS. So, we have appealed them to connect with us,” an official from the health department said. So far, BMC has received two calls, on its helpline number 1916, from people who had attended the meet.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Mumbai News, download Indian Express App.