Parts of Delhi's Nizamuddin West cordoned off after Covid-19 cases traced to area
Early Monday morning, the Delhi Police sealed portions of Nizamuddin West area — a day after six of the 23 fresh COVID-19 cases in the Capital were traced to the area. They had attended an event held at a mosque in the area last month.
DCP (Southeast) RP Meena said, "All of Nizamuddin West has not been sealed. We have cordoned off an area, starting from the mosque, to the Dargah, right up till the police station."
He said apart from barricading, at least 80-100 police personnel have been deployed to ensure that no one steps out at all. "We are also using one drone to keep track the movement of people in this area," Meena said.
A police officer said that apart from police personnel and health department officials, no one in the area is allowed to move around.
On Sunday, it came to the fore that six of the 23 people, admitted to AIIMS, Jhajjar, are part of the Tablighi Jamaat outfit, and had attended an event at the mosque in Nizamuddin West last month. The authorities are tracing around 1,000 people that these six people, who are not Delhi residents, have been in touch with. Nizamuddin West was zeroed in after an 80-year-old resident was tested positive Saturday.
A resident of the area told The Indian Express, "Since last night, there has been heavy police presence, and we haven't stepped out of the house at all. We are scared since there are several people still inside the mosque… None of us are stepping out to even buy ration. There is also a drone here."
An official from the Nizamuddin Dargah — which is a few metres away — said that the premises are being sanitised at least thrice a day and announcements are being made to ensure that no one visits the Dargah.
(Inputs and image from theindianexpress.com)