Centre asks states to track Rohingya refugees over COVID-19 concerns

Over 2000 members attended Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin Markaz mosque in Delhi in mid-March and then went back to their native states.

It took the Delhi Police three days to prepare the list of the attendees of the religious congregation.

So far, 30,000 people with links to Tablighi Jamaat attendees have been traced and quarantined.

Following this,  the Union Home Ministry has directed all state police chief to conduct an intensive search to locate the Rohinga refugees as many are reportedly missing from their designated camps.

"All contacts of Rohingyas need to be screened on priority basis and necessary measures need to be taken," the alert sent out to states and union territories said, NDTV reported quoting sources.

"It has been reported that Rohingya Muslims have attended ijtemas and other religious congregations of Tabligh Jamaat and there is a possibility of their contracting COVID-19," the letter sent by Home Ministry to state police chiefs and chief secretaries said.

"Rohingyas residing in camps of Hyderabad, Telangana had attended Ijtema at Mewat and then had visited Markaz in Nizamuddin. Also Rohingyas living in Shram Vihar, Shaheen Bagh had also gone for Tabligh activities. They have not returned to their camps," the letter said.

Intelligence agencies have been using cellphones and other technical data to trace people who were in the Nizamuddin area in mid-March.

The highly contagious COVID-19, which had its outbreak in China's Wuhan city last December, has infected 13, 835 people across India and claimed the lives of 452 so far.