Jharkhand lists 40 Tabligh visitors, many claim they didn’t go there

While the list has names and contact numbers of 40 people, district officials on ground said most of them claimed they never visited Nizamuddin in the last seven days, as mentioned in the Special Branch document. Some have reportedly claimed they have never visited Markaz Nizamuddin at all, while some others claimed they had gone before March 2, according to officials.

Jharkhand reported its first COVID-19 case on Tuesday — a Malaysian national, who had attended the Tabligh event and had come to Ranchi on March 17.

A letter by the Special Branch, Jharkhand, dated March 30 sent to all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and senior police officers stated in Hindi: “According to information received, people named in the list went to Nizamuddin and participated in Tablighi Jamaat’s event and returned in the past seven days.”

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The letter, among others, then asks for their medical examinations to be conducted.

The Jharkhand minister, whose son’s name features in the list, said: “My son never went to Nizamuddin, Delhi, in the last few months. I don’t understand how his name figures in the list.”

Deoghar DC Nancy Sahay said: “In my district, there are two persons in the Special Branch’s list… One of them is the minister’s son. Both claimed they never visited Nizamuddin, but we have sent them to quarantine and are getting call detail records to ascertain their travel history. Tests have been conducted and we are awaiting the results.”

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In Dumka, one person named in the list purportedly did not visit Delhi, as per call detail records (CDR) ascertained by the district administration. Dumka DC Rajeshwari B said: “The man claimed that he had not gone to Nizamuddin. We checked CDR (of person’s phone) and found that he did not move out of the state in the last few months…”

Dhanbad district has nine persons listed. Dhanbad DC Amit Kumar said: “A few claimed that they have not been to Nizamuddin, others claimed that they had gone before March 2. We are in the process of ascertaining their travel records.”

Gumla DC and Hazaribagh DC also said that the people listed from their districts claimed they did not leave the state in recent times.

Jharkhand DGP M V Rao sad, “Attending a religious congregation is not a crime. This is a crisis situation and we are taking all measures.”

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