A mammoth congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat was to be held in Vasai near Mumbai on March 14-15 but the Maharashtra government had withdrawn the permission.
More than 50,000 people across India were expected to attend the two-day religious meeting.
Vasai is located in Palghar district, 80 km off downtown Mumbai.
After the formal application reached Palghar Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh, he consulted Konkan range Special Inspector General of Police Niket Kaushik. The permission was withdrawn on March 6 much before the coronavirus lockdown measures came into force.
It was almost a month ago when the COVID-19 issue was compounding into a big health scare in India.
The Tablighi Ijtema was to be held at Diwanman in Vasai West and the permission was reportedly sought by Shamim Education and Welfare Society.
"The permission was withdrawn as a precautionary measure," Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said in a press statement.
The Home Department felt that in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, it was not advisable that such an event held in a densely-populated area of Mumbai metropolitan region, at a time when the call across the world is that of social distancing.
The Vasai event would have been much bigger than the Nizamuddin Markaz congregation of Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi.
"We believe that it was a wise call," said Singh.
"The event was to be attended by a large number of people including foreigners. There was an obvious threat of community spread," added Kaushik.
The Delhi event had seen a participation of over 2,500 people and had added to the spread of COVID-19 across India. "The alertness has averted a Delhi-type fallout," said Deshmukh.
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