Coronavirus: Jharkhand minister quarantined after son attended Tablighi

A senior Minister in Hemant Soren Government, Haji Hussain Ansari, and his family members have been quarantined in Ranchi after the Jharkhand’s Intelligence Department said the minister’s son Tanveer-ul Hasan had attended Tablighi at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

Ansari, who is a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA from Deogarh and is currently Welfare and Minority Affairs Minister in the Soren regime, has, however, denied the charge that he or his son ever visited Delhi.

However, the Special Branch police has submitted to the police headquarters a list of Jharkhand residents who attended Tablighi at Nizamuddin. As per the list, the minister’s son Tanveer-ul Hasan and another person Mohammad Abbas (from Deogarh) attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin.

Eventually, the minister’s son was summoned to the police station in Ranchi where a team of doctors took his swab samples and sent it to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in the State Capital for the test.

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Though the report is awaited, Ansari and his family members have, meanwhile, been put under quarantine. Incidentally, Ansari had attended a Cabinet meeting too. Once the medical report of RIMS, Ranchi comes, the next course of action would be decided.

First Case

Jharkhand, till two days back, had not reported even a single corona positive case. However, on Tuesday, the Jharkhand police apprehended a Malaysia-based woman from a mosque at Hindipidhi in Ranchi. She was the first person in Jharkhand who tested positive. “She has been kept in the isolation ward of RIMS. Besides, 24 more persons were apprehended from another mosque. These people too will have to undergo test,” a source from Ranchi informed Deccan Herald on phone. “This female, who is believed to have attended Tablighi in Nizamuddin, had travelled by Rajdhani Express from New Delhi to Ranchi on March 17 in the B-1 coach. The Jharkhand police have made an appeal to all those 64 passengers who, on that day, travelled in the B-1 compartment to get themselves tested,” the source added.