Ex-Congress councillor booked for ‘lying’ about Tablighi meet

Mangalore Today News Network

Delhi, Apr 11, 2020: An FIR has been registered against a former Congress councillor who allegedly lied to police about his visit to the Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin last month, and has since tested positive for COVID-19. His wife, an SDMC councillor in Southwest Delhi, and their daughter have also tested positive, said police, Yahoo.

 

DCP (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said Deenpur village in Najafgarh, where the family lives, was declared a containment zone this week after the family tested positive. However, the SDMC councillor denied the allegations and said her family is being framed. “My husband didn’t visit the mosque at Nizamuddin. He was busy with charitable work after the lockdown and must have come in contact with a patient. We have been distributing food to residents daily,” she claimed.

Senior police officers alleged that the accused moved out of his house during home quarantine.

“On March 31, we started tracking those who attended the Markaz event and returned to their homes in the area; we zeroed in on five such persons. They were traced and they told police about their travel history,” said a senior officer.

Read| At containment zones, police & volunteers brush aside fear to keep supply line going

As a precautionary measure, other residents of the village were home quarantined. “During physical verification of home quarantined persons, health authorities did not find the accused at his house in Deenpur village,” said the DCP.

When police found the man and questioned him, he allegedly hid facts about his past travel and movements. Later, the man complained of fever and tested positive for COVID-19. Within days, his wife and their daughter also tested positive. “Even during repeated medical and police enquiry, he lied about his movements and did not disclose it to the authorities,” claimed police.

A senior police officer said, “We analysed his call detail records and conducted a physical enquiry. It was found that he had attended the Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin between March 13 and 15.” Police said legal action has been initiated against him and a case under IPC sections 188 and 269 and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act has been registered.

The health department has, meanwhile, identified 1,495 households falling within a one kilometre radius of the village. Close to 8,000 people in this area will be screened for symptoms, officials said.