NAGAPATTINAM: Ten foreign

missionaries and their two guides were arrested by Mayiladuthurai police on April 9 on charges of violating the lockdown norms and Foreigners Act 1946. They were produced before the Mayiladuthurai judicial magistrate, who remanded them in judicial custody. All the 12 have been booked under section 188 of the CrPC, IPC section 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), and Foreigners Act 1946, police said.

They were later admitted to isolation wards in the Mayaliduthurai government hospital in

and their samples sent to Tiruvarur Government Medical College Hospital for Covid-19 tests.

Of the 10 foreign nationals, five were from France, three from Cameroon, a central African country, and one each from Belgium and Congo, also in central Africa, police confirmed. Two others, one from Maharashtra and another from Bihar, acted as guides to the TJ preachers.

Mayiladuthurai deputy superintendent of police K Annadurai said the TJ delegation had reached

village near Mayiladuthurai from Karaikal on March 25 to preach Islam. “They did not attend the TJ conference in Delhi. We are waiting for the swab sample test result,” he said.

On April 9, based on information from the special branch police in Nagapattinam, a police team led by Mayiladuthurai police inspector Singaravelu and sub-inspector N Jayaraman searched a Madrassa in Needur village. Subsequently, they arrested all the 10 missionaries and their two guides. During interrogation, they came to know that the group of missionaries had arrived on a tourist visa and had no permission to carry out a religious mission in the country, police said.

They produced them before Mayiladuthurai judicial magistrate at his house the same evening. The magistrate remanded them to 15-day judicial custody after which they were admitted to isolation wards in the Mayiladuthurai government hospital. All of them had arrived in Karaikal on March 19, after touring some northern states. Later,following the nation-wide lockdown, they remained in the Madrassa.

The same day, on April 9, the Needamangalam police in Tiruvarur district had arrest-ed 13 Myanmar nationals on charges of violating Section 144 of CrPC and Foreigners Act 1946. They were later ad-mitted to the Tiruvarur gov-ernment hospital.

Two of them tested Covid-19 positive and were admitted to isolation wards in the Tiruvarur Government Medical College Hospital. Others were placed under home quarantine. All the 13 had arrived in Tiruvarur from the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Delhi on March 24 and were guests of families in Needamangalam.