421 Tablighi returnees traced in Himachal

Shimla: What appeared to be a tiny group of Tablighi Jamaat returnees posing threat of Coronavirus spread in the small hill state seems to have exploded to a gigantic task for Himachal Pradesh government.

Over 421 Tablighi Jamaat returnees, spread through the districts of Chamba, Kangra, Una, Shimla, Hamirpur, Mandi, Kullu and Sirmaur districts, have already been traced by the police. This number was just 329 till Monday evening.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday passed strict orders for contacting mapping and pinning down of every Tablighi Jamaati in order to undertake intensive testing of every single person to prevent any further spread of the virus in the state.

Already 92 persons have voluntarily informed the police about their exposure to COVID-19 since they have been in touch with persons who had returned from Nizamuddin Markaz. This was, after Himachal Pradesh DGP S R Mardi set out a deadline and threatened to invoke section 307 and 302 IPC against the Jamaat returnees.

"It's a tragedy for the state, which otherwise had lowest incidence of Coronavirus, just three cases till March 23, now has 18 already tested positive till Monday. Of these 11 unfortunately are Jamaatis," said Thakur.

Meanwhile, nine more were tested positive in Himachal Pradesh, all are Tablighi Jamaat returnees. Now total positive cases in the state are 27.