30 people, including AU prof and 16 foreigners linked to Tablighi Jamaat, held in Prayagraj for hiding travel history

The 16 foreign nationals include nine from Thailand and seven from Indonesia. The arrested also include one each from West Bengal and Kerala. Caretakers of Hera masjid in Kareli and Abdullah mosque in Shahganj in Prayagraj have also been held, said the report, adding that all of them had attended Tablighi Jamaat organised in Nizamuddin Markaz mosque in Delhi in mid-March.

According to the report, all 30 people were taken into custody after their quarantine period was over.

A Times Now report said, Allahabad University professor Mohammad Shahid, who is a resident of Prayagraj's Rasulabad area, had attended Tablighi Jamaat in March and even made arrangements for the stay of some Jamaatis in the city.

Professor Shahid has been a member of Tablighi Jamaat for a long time, said the report.

However, the professor did not inform the UP Police about his presence in the religious congregation. He was isolated with his family at a guest house in Kareli area since April 9 after police learned about his presence at the religious assembly, the report added.

An FIR was lodged at the Shivkuti Police station against the professor for hiding his travel history and he was booked under Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, and Sections 269 (acting negligently and likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease) and 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) of the Indian Penal Code, the Times Now report stated.

The Uttar Pradesh police said the professor had visited Ethiopia a few months back and then attended Tablighi Jamaat event at the Markaz mosque in Delhi's Nizamuddin from March 6 to 10. He returned to Praygraj on March 11 and was also on invigilator's duty in an exam hall during the annual examinations from March 12 to 16, the report added.

As soon as the information surfaced, SP (city) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava and his team went to his home and confirmed the travel history. The professor and his family were quarantined and their nasal and throat swabs were collected and sent for testing.

The police are trying to trace the faculty and the students who had come in contact with the professor after he returned from Delhi. They are also trying to trace his relatives who had come in contact with him during that period, said SSP (Prayagraj) Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaj, reported Times Now.

The report said Professor Shahid's elder brother is a professor of commerce at Allahabad University and lives next door.