Jamaatis were being transferred to the municipal quarantine facility, where they were to be kept for 14 days before being released. (File photo: PTI)

First, Tablighi Jamaat members misbehaved with medical staff in Ghaziabad and now, local people have started objecting to Jamaatis being quarantined at various facilities in their area.

The latest incident took place in Pemeshwar Gate in Firozabad district of Agra division, where local residents allegedly pelted stones at health department vehicles taking Jamaatis to the municipal quarantine centre. The Jamaatis were later shifted to a medical college and then to another quarantine centre.

A health department official told India Today that 11 Jamatis from Gujarat were sent to quarantine by the health department from Ramgarh as they were suspected to be infected with Covid-19. They were first quarantined at a hospital in Shikohabad and they sent to Unity Hospital where they were tested.

When the reports came negative, they were being transferred to the municipal quarantine facility in Kanhaiya Nagar, where they were to be kept for 14 days before being released.

However, when the ambulance reached the quarantine facility, local residents started opposing the health officials taking Jamaatis and pelted stones at the ambulance.

Speaking to India Today, CMO Dr SK Dixit said if the driver had not shown presence of mind by speeding away with the ambulance, serious injuries could have occurred to the driver as well as the Jamaatis.

Contradicting the health department’s account, SP City PP Singh said that the Jamaatis were supposed to be home quarantined. They were taken to the wrong place and locals had only objected to this shifting on possibly infected people in their vicinity. No stones were thrown at the ambulance, he said.

The Jamaatis have now been sent to the medical college.