Three members of the Tablighi Jamaat, who were at the congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March, tested positive for the coronavirus disease in Uttarakhand late on Thursday, officials said.
With this, the number of cases of coronavirus infection in the hill state has gone up to 10.
“Three people, who tested positive for the deadly virus, were among the 13 members of Tablighi Jamaat, who were caught entering Udham Singh Nagar district from Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and booked by the police,” Ashok Kumar, director general of police (law and order), said.
They were quarantined after a health check-up at Pant Nagar Krishi Bhawan premises.
On Wednesday, US Nagar police had arrested 13 Tablighi Jamaat attendees near the railway track and Nainital Road in Rudrapur. They were coming from the Moradabad and Rampur areas of Uttar Pradesh.
“We were informed that some Jamaatis are passing through the railway track from Rampur side and entering Uttarakhand. Police intercepted them and took them into custody. They were nine in number. Later, four more were held from Nainital road in Rudrapur,” Devendra Pincha, US Nagar’s additional superintendent of police, said.
Pincha said they were booked under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently does any act which is, and which he knows or has reason to believe to be, likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On March 15, Uttarakhand reported the first Covid-19 case in the state. A 26-year-old trainee Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer was confirmed positive after he had returned from a tour of Finland, Russia and Spain. He was part of a group of 62 trainee IFS officers who had visited these countries for an educational tour.
On March 23, an American tourist was confirmed to be the fourth Covid-19 case in Uttarakhand. On March 25, a 25-year-old man from Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal district with recent travel history to Spain became the fifth Covid-19 patient in the state.
Uttarakhand reported its sixth case of Covid-19 on March 28 when a 21-year-old boy, who had come back from Dubai, tested positive in Dehradun. The next day, a 47-year-old military official posted in the Chakrata area of Dehradun tested positive for the coronavirus disease.