New Delhi: Some of the 167 attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat quarantined here have reportedly “misbehaved” and “even spit” at health officials, including doctors attending them. They are quarantined at a railway facility in Tughlakabad.
“At the quarantine centres, they (attendees) misbehaved with the staff and even raised objections over the food being served to them… They even spit at the doctors and those attending to them and refused to stop roaming around the quarantine facilities,” Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar told India Today.
Residents of the area alleged that the colonies were not being sanitized, and feared going out. Additional security was deployed at these makeshift quarantine centres following the protests.
Tabligh-e-Jamaat’s Markaz in Nizamuddin West is being forecast to become one of the biggest hotspots of the coronavirus pandemic in India. More than 2,000 people from all over the country and abroad took part in a congregation held from March 1-15.
Close to 400 of them have tested positive for the virus so far in various parts of the country.
Meanwhile, Jammat’s leader Maulana Saad has gone into hiding and Crime Branch of Delhi Police is looking for him. The leader sent voice messages claiming that he is in isolation and urged followers to obey the authorities. He has been charged by the police for allegedly not vacating the building and trashing all social distancing warnings by encouraging people to congregate.