Chandigarh, Apr 1 (IANS): At least 503 people, comprising 72 foreigners, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin have been identified in Haryana and the government is putting them under quarantine to prevent coronavirus spread, Home Minister Anil Vij said on Wednesday.
The process to identify all those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat is on, he said.
"I have directed all the SPs (Superintendents of Police) to identify all of them at all possible places like masjids, homes and public places and to take immediate action against them, what is necessary," Vij, who also holds a Health portfolio, told the media.
The exact number would be clear once the compilation is over, he added.
He said after attending the Jamaat, they were assigned duties to propagate Islam.
"Their motive is not to spread the disease, but they do it owing to ignorance," Vij added.
Official sources the number could increase at least by 150, adding that a majority of those who attended the religious congregation were either under quarantine or in isolation in the state. Some foreign nationals were also kept in isolation to prevent the coronavirus spread.
The maximum number of 70 was traced from Panchkula district, comprising 27 from a village close to Pinjore bordering Himachal Pradesh, followed by 62 in Panipat, 26 in Gurugram, seven in Sonipat and 16 in Dadri.
Some of them who have been identified not belonged to Haryana.
"A majority of them reached Haryana when the statewide lockdown came into effect. If necessary, legal action would be initiated against all those who violated the norms," a senior official told IANS.
Thousands of people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation and then dispersed, are feared to carry Covid-19 disease to states across the length and breadth of India.
In a frantic search of thousands of people who were participants of Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin area in Delhi, the Central government on Wednesday directed the states and Union Territories (UTs) and police chiefs to complete the contact tracing exercise on a "war footing" to check the COVID-19 spread.