Jamaat case: 12 more charge sheets

nNEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Friday filed 12 charge sheets against foreigners who had gathered at the Nizamuddin Markaz—which was one of the first Covid-19 hot spots in the national capital—taking the total number of charge sheets (comprising nearly 50,000 pages) filed against foreigners to 59.

The dozen charge sheets on Friday were filed against 41 foreigners who belong to 12 countries. In all, so far, 956 foreigners belonging to 36 different countries—mainly Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia—have been charged by the police till date.

A statement issued by the police on Friday said that none of these foreigners have been arrested so far and they are staying at various places in Delhi that have been approved by the High Court. “The court has fixed June 25 and July 9 and 16 for further proceedings in the case,” the police statement read.

The crime branch registered the FIR against the foreigners on March 31 after the station house officer of the Nizamuddin police station filed a complaint alleging violationsofvariousgovernment orders and directions by the management of the Markaz.

The FIR was registered under the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act and the IPC which include the stringent sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy.

The people named in the FIR on March 31 include Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad and six other top officials for defying government directives, which curbed religious and large gatherings to contain the spread of Covid-19.