Uttar Pradesh government books 'Jamaat' members, imams for hiding them

Cracking down on the Tableegh-e-Jamaat members, many of whom were suspected to have attended the event at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday ordered registration of FIRs against them and also those, who had allegedly sheltered them at mosques and their homes.

According to the police sources here, FIRs were lodged in this connection at Jaunpur, Lucknow, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and some other districts.

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Sources said that over 1300 Jamaat members had been identified in different parts of the state, who also included over 250 foreigners, mainly from Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and some central Asian countries. All of them had been quarantined, sources said.

Police sources said that security personnel had been deployed to make sure that those quarantined did not venture out.

Directives had also been issued to the police to ensure that 'namaz' (prayers) was not offered at public places or in groups even at homes. One person was arrested allegedly for organising 'namaz' of a group of people on the rooftop in Noida, sources said.

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Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who chaired a meeting to review the situation arising out of the arrival of 'Jamaat' members in the state after attending the Delhi event, directed the police officials to deal sternly with anyone not cooperating with the authorities.

Police had raided several mosques in Lucknow, Bijnore and Meerut and found dozens of foreign preachers staying there for many days. The police said that the local imams (priests) of the mosques had not informed the authorities about the presence of the foreign nationals there.

Sources said that many of the preachers had attended the recent religious event at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi.