400 from Bengal visited Delhi meet, missing Various Central, state agencies on alert, launch hunt to trace Jamaat attendees across districts

At least 400 more people from West Bengal are suspected to have attended Tablighi Jamaat held last month at Nizamuddin Dargah in New Delhi which has come under the scanner for organising the religious congregation amidst restrictions on Covid-19 pandemic.

Shockingly, a majority of them are yet to be identified and traced.

This has sent alarm bells ringing to various Central and state security and health agencies which have launched a joint hunt for them across the districts for the purpose of isolation and quarantine following the lists of air and train passengers: Delhi-bound and Kolkata-bound across March till the services were underway.

According to sources in the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the new figure of 400 devotees which also includes 44 foreigners has been estimated during an assessment a day after a list of barely 73 participants to the event from the state came to light.

A combination of both the numbers stands at 473 which may increase if the exact figure of the participants from the state is ascertained with identification and traces, a senior MHA official told this newspaper on the condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

Most devotees among the fresh suspects travelled in trains from Sealdah and Howrah stations and started visiting the congregation venue March 13 onwards and

returned to the city after a stay of two-three days there, sources revealed.

Among them are 44 persons from Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia who got stranded due to the lockdown as they spent a few more days here after their return, sources added.

Meanwhile, the list of 73 participants has been identified.

Most of them, 53 persons, have also been tracked by the police after a nightlong search in the city.

They have been kept at Haj House in Rajarhat for their quarantine, a health department official said.