NEW DELHI: Immigration wing at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on Sunday intercepted eight members of the Tablighi Jamaat from Malayasia as they tried to board Malindo Air relief flight bound for their country.
Sources in the immigration department told ANI that the eight members will be handed over to the police.
The Immigration Department has a list of Jamaat members who attended the religious gathering in Delhi and based on this list the eight members trying to return back to their country were intercepted.
Immediately after completion of formalities, the eight Malaysians were handed over to the Aviation Security (CISF) personnel at the airport and further process is underway for them to be handed over to the Delhi police.
As per the rule established by the Centre, all the persons who were intercepted will have to stay in quarantine in India.
The Tablighi Jamaat event held in March in the Markaz building, Nizamuddin area of Delhi has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.
Many foreign nationals who attended the religious gathering, among other Indians, have tested positive for COVID-19 and nearly 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts have been quarantined across the country so far, a home ministry official said on Saturday.
The Centre and state governments have been tracking and checking all those who attended the event in a bid to stop the spread of the disease and to provide treatment to those who are infected.