Ten Bangladeshi nationals among 12 attendees of the Tabligh Jamaat event, held in Delhi's Nizamuddin Marqaz in March, have been arrested from India’s Madhya Pradesh state.
They were arrested from Sheopur district of the state on Tuesday, for staying without informing the local authorities.
Three locals were also jailed for sheltering them, said Sheopur Superintendent of Police Sampat Upadhyay.
The two others arrested are residents of Kolkata and six of the arrestees are women, reports News 18.com.
“They were earlier quarantined along with a few others who had reportedly got infected by coronavirus. Their latest samples have tested negative,” said Upadhyay.
As many as 22 attendees of the Tabligh congregation, which has turned into one of the major hotspots for Covid-19 in India, had been identified from Bagvaj village in Sheopur on April 2 following a raid by the local police.
Police said a case was lodged against all of the 22 and the remaining 10 people could be jailed shortly. This is the second such legal action initiated against the Jamaat members.
Charges against Jamaat members
On April 10, 64 foreign nationals who attended the Nizamuddin event, 10 of their local aides and 13 others who came into contact with them were booked by five different police stations in Bhopal.
They have been charged under IPC Section 188, disobedience to order promulgated by public servant, 269 and 270, negligent act likely to spread of disease dangerous to life.
Charges were also slapped under sections 13 and 14 of the Foreigners Act 1946 and Section 51 of the National Disaster Management Act 2005.
All of them are likely to be arrested after doctors certify that their presence in the jail would not lead to further spread of the infection, a police officer had said.
As many as 20 Jamaat members had tested positive in Bhopal and 140 others were quarantined on the outskirts of the city.
Some other districts in the state, Umaria, Agar Malwa, Khandwa, Khargone, Vidisha, Dewas, Raisen and Mhow (Indore), have also reported coronavirus cases among attendees of last month’s event.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Narottam Mishra said of the 123 virus cases in Ujjain, 103 were affiliated to Tabligh Jamaat and only 20 locals have separately contracted the infection.
A number of locals have also reportedly got infected after coming in contact with the Jamaat members.
Till Wednesday, the number of positive cases in the Indian state has risen to 2,565, including 129 deaths. As many as 452 people have recovered from the virus completely.
The fast spreading coronavirus, which was first reported in China’s Wuhan, has claimed more than 228,210 lives and infected more than 3,220,180 people globally, according to Worldometer.
As many as 1,000,336 people have recovered from Covid-19, which has spread to 210 countries and territories across the planet.