FIRs against 13 Tablighi Jamaat members for defying lockdown

Ahmedabad, Apr 28 () The Gujarat police have lodgedtwo seperate FIRs against 13 members of the Tablighi Jamaatfor allegedly violating lockdown imposed over a month ago tocontain the coronavirus spread, the DGP said on Tuesday.

In both the cases, Tablighi Jamaat members had enteredBharuch district from other parts of Gujarat in private busessecretly in violation of the lockdown norms, said DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) Shivanand Jha.

While one complaint against half a dozen members waslodged with the Palej police of Bharuch district, the other,against seven men of the Delhi-headquartered Islamic group,was filed at the Amod police station of the same district onMonday, he said.

"Before the lockdown was imposed (on March 25), somemembers of the Tablighi Jamaat went to Bhavnagar from Bharuchthrough Ro-Ro ferry service on March 17.

"Later, six of them recently came back to a village inBharuch in a private bus.

"When it came to our notice, we lodged an FIR againstthem at the Palej police station for violating the lockdown,"Jha said in a video message.

Similarly, seven members of the Islamic sect defiedthe police notification banning movement of people andvehicles during the lockdown and entered Bharuch in a bus fromanother districtrecently, said the DGP.

On learning about their arrival in the district, acase was lodged against them at the Amod police station, Jhaadded. PJT PDRSY RSY