The Maharashtra Government has booked 156 foreigners from 18 countries for allegedly violating the visa rules and attending the Tablighi Jamaat event at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month.
Announcing this, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Sunday: “The police have booked 156 foreigners for visa rules violations under section 14-B of Foreigners Act, other relevant sections of IPC Further investigations are on”.
The section 14 (b) of the Foreigners Act, 1946 (Penalty for contravention of provisions of the Act, etc) read thus: “Whoever-- does any act in violation of the conditions of the valid visa issued to him for his entry and stay in India or any part thereunder;
Deshmukh said that all these foreigners had been granted a tourist visa for India “but they flouted the norms by visiting the Tablighi Jamaat markaz in Delhi last month”.
The 18 countries from which they came are: Indonesia 37, Kyrgyzstan 19, Myanmar 18, Bangladesh 13, Tanzania 11, Philippines 10, Kazakhstan and Ivory Coast 9 each, Malaysia 8, Togo 6, Djibouti 5, Brunei 4, Russia 2, USA, Benin, Iran, Ghana and South Africa 1 each.
The Minister said that as many as 15 offences have been registered by police in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Amravati, Nanded, Nagpur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, and all the foreigners are currently kept in institutional quarantine, he added.
The Maharashtra Government’s stern action against 156 foreign nationals should be seen in the context of its earlier decision to cancel a two-day Tablighi Jamaat event held along the lines of the one held at Nizamuddin which became hotbed for Coronavirus cases.