Delhi gurdwara admn booked

NEWDELHI: Police Thursday registered a case against the management of the gurdwara in Majnu Ka Tila for violating prohibitory orders and the 21-day lockdown norms, after 227 persons from Punjab were evacuated from there on Wednesday to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They were later shifted to two quarantine centres in the city.

On Tuesday night, the police had received information regarding a gathering of around 300 people at the gurdwara in Majnu ka Tila. Upon confirming the information, the Delhi government was intimated and 227 migrants, who were from Punjab, but working in Delhi-NCR, were evacuated on Wednesday.

Police said the FIR has been registered under sections 188, 269, and 270 of the Indian Penal Code.

“The FIR was registered following the instructions of the Delhi government since the gurdwara committee did not inform the police or the concerned subdivisional magistrate about the mass gathering of people at the gurdwara. The management officials violated the government orders that banned the gathering of five or more people in any place to avoid the spread of the coronavirus,” a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said.

The officer said none of the 227 rescued persons showed symptoms of the Covid-19 infection when tested by doctors at the gurdwara. A Delhi government official said all evacuees are being screened and their samples are being collected for testing.

“There were chances of people getting infected, as maintaining social distancing was not possible at the religious place. The management committee should have informed the police or government authorities and got the migrants staying at the gurdwara isolated,” the officer added.

Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said, “This is a desperate attempt to malign the services done by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and the Sikhs across India and the world.”