The hunt for Maulana Saad, the chief of Nizamuddin Markaz of Tablighi Jamaat, ended on Tuesday after police through electronic and technical surveillance traced him in a religious place at Delhi’s Zakir Nagar.
Highly placed sources said legal action will be initiated against the Maulana if he fails to appear in front of the Investigating Officer (IO) within the given period.
Meanwhile, his lawyer Tauseef Khan on Wednesday said Saad is currently under self quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over.
Saad has been in the eye of storm after more than 1,400 people who had attended gathering during March 3 to 22 at Nizamuddin Markaz were tested coronavirus positive. At least 9,000 people had participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had booked Saad, along with five others, for violating the lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and putting the lives of thousands at risk. He reportedly went missing since March 31.
The Crime Branch had also served two notices to Saad under Section 91 of Criminal Code of Procedure (CrPC). In the notices, the police have asked him to provide some documents. The second notice was issued after the reply given by Saad against the first notice was found to be unsatisfactory.
The Tablighi Jamaat cleric through his lawyers said because of the lockdown he cannot access the documents that the police are demanding him to submit.
He claimed that he is self-quarantined and therefore cannot join the police for investigation. The Delhi Police evoked Section 91 of CrPC and asked the cleric to furnish certain documents and electronic devices in his possession.
According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the authorities of Markaz on March 21 and reminded them of the Government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people. However, no one paid any heed to the police’s direction.
Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.
On March 24, the Government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering. The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of Markaz.
The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.
It was found that despite repeated efforts, they did not inform the Health Department or any other Government agency about the huge gathering inside the Markaz and deliberately disobeyed Government orders.
The sub-divisional magistrate of Defence Colony inspected the premises several times and found that around 1,300 people, including foreign nationals, were residing there without maintaining social distance.
It was also found that there were no arrangements of hand sanitizers and face masks at the premises.