By ARUN PRATAP SINGH
DEHRADUN, 7 Apr: DGP Anil Raturi’s warning to the Tablighi Jamaat members of action against them if they fail to declare this participation in the organisations gatherings has produced results in the past 24 hours as 180 Jamaatis have come forward to declare their participation in the Tablighi Jamaat meet at the Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi. Speaking to Garhwal Post, DG, Law & Order, Ashok Kumar disclosed that an FIR had been filed against 2 persons under Section 107 of the IPC (Attempt to Murder) while cases against 41 who had been caught during past three days had been filed under relatively lighter provisions of the Disaster Management Act.
One of them, Haji Naseer Ahmed, is a resident of Imli Road, Roorkee, and he was staying with a youth of village Paniyala. Both have been quarantined and the families of both have also been home quarantined. Their swab samples were also collected and sent for testing. The Police are also identifying those who had come in their contact.
Kumar added that, of the 180 who had come out and presented themselves before the Police or the administration, 9 were from Dehradun district, while 151 were from Haridwar district (including Roorkee), 12 were from Nainital and 8 from Pauri district.
He further stated that surveillance was being maintained and the search was on for all those who had participated in the Jamaat in Nizamuddin. Not only this, cases had also been filed against those who had given shelter to the Jamaatis or had helped them hide from the administration.
Ashok Kumar revealed that 41 Jamaatis had been caught while returning clandestinely to their native places in Uttarakhand, or immediately after their return, between 1 and 5 April. FIRs have been registered against them under the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act.
He added that it was surveillance that had led to the arrest of two persons today in Haridwar district. A case under Section 107 of IPC (Attempt to Murder) had been filed against them. Besides them, cases were also filed against 4 persons in Laksar (District Haridwar) for sheltering the Jamatis.
Kumar claimed that the Police were serious about dealing strictly against those engaged in spreading rumours regarding the Corona pandemic and cases had been registered against 44 persons for doing so on social media.
While the Police department is on the job of identifying all possible Jamaatis who had returned to the state, unfortunately, not many are coming forward and declaring their travel history and participation and are believed to be still hiding. The state administration had also launched state-wide special drives to convince the Jamaatis to come forward and declare their participation. Leaders from the Muslim community have also been involved in this by the administration.
Today, there were also reports of resistance offered by local residents of Majra in Dehradun against attempts by the local administration to conduct an inquiry in the area regarding the Jamaat.
