Two members of the Tabhligi Jamaat – whose headquarters in Delhi emerged as one of the biggest Covid-19 source in the country – were on Tuesday booked in Roorkee and Haridwar under attempt to murder charges. The stringent action was taken by the Uttarakhad Police after 24-hour ultimatum given to the Jamaatis to present themselves before the administration for medical examination ended.
Uttarakhand’s director general of police (DGP), Anil Kumar Raturi, had released a video message on Sunday evening asking all the Jamaatis to come out of hiding by Monday evening and present themselves before administration for required medical examination and quarantine for checking the spread of Covid-19 virus. He had warned the Jamaatis would be booked under attempt to murder or murder charges in case anybody gets infected from the deadly virus due to their negligence or dies after getting the infection.
“After the deadline ended on April 6 evening, we found two Jamaatis – one each in Roorkee and Haridwar – hiding. They were then tracked down on the basis of their call details record and nabbed before being booked for attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC,” said Ashok Kumar, director general (law & order), Uttarakhand Police.
“After being nabbed, they have been now put in institutional quarantine for required medical examination,” Kumar added.
He also said that 180 Jamaatis presented themselves before administration before the 24-hour deadline ended.
“Of these 180 Jamaatis, maximum 151 were from Haridwar, followed by 12 from Nainital, nine from Dehradun and seven from Pauri Garhwal districts. All of them have been quarantined and are being examined for possible Covid-19 infection by the health department officials,” said Kumar.
He further said, “Police are keeping an eye on about 300 Jamaatis from Uttarakhand who are in other states to ensure that they don’t enter here discreetly and get into hiding. As warned, anyone found doing so will be booked under attempt to murder.”
Uttarakhand Police have so far identified 708 members of various Jamaats or congregations – 383 were residents of the state who had gone to other states and 325 from other states had come to Uttarakhand to attend congregations after March 1.
Kumar informed that the police had also booked four people in Laksar, Haridwar for “giving shelter to Jamaatis in their home despite the warning given”.
“Earlier we had booked 41 Jamaatis for trying to enter the state discreetly through jungles along the railway tracks. We have also booked 44 people for spreading rumours on Covid-19 on social media in the state,” said Kumar.
Of the 31 Covid-19 positive patients in Uttarakhand, 24 are Jamaatis. Following the significant number of positive cases among Jamaatis, the administration has put restrictions on people’s movement in certain areas of the state, where they are living.
