8 Malaysian Tablighis men, trying to flee India, caught at Delhi airport

Chennai, Apr 05: Eight Malaysian nationals, all attendees of the Nizamuddin congregation in Delhi were detained Sunday at Delhi Airport while trying to leave India on a special flight. The Malaysians were intercepted by immigration officials after being alerted by the Delhi police.

Reportedly, the Malaysian nationals were hiding in different parts of Delhi and gathered at the airport on Sunday to flee the country.

Of the 167 Malaysian Tamils who boarded the flight, 8 people, were offloaded after it was ascertained that they had participated in the recent meeting at the national capital, they said. The flight departed with 157 passengers after some delay, officials added.

After participating in the meeting, they had visited Tenkasi district in southern Tamil Nadu and had stayed there before coming here to board the flight. It is, however, not immediately known if the Jamaat participants will be quarantined by health authorities or not.

All the passengers were Malaysian Tamils who had got stranded in different parts of Tamil Nadu before the commencement of lockdown on March 24. Today, they were sent to their country through a special chartered flight following consultations between Indian and Malaysian governments on their return.

According to the government, more than 2,000 of the Tablighi Jamaat participants were foreigners. After the gathering, over 800 of them toured various parts of the country.

So far, 1,023 of the 3,072 positive cases in India have been traced to that one congregation.