Police Trace Tablighi Jamaat Connection to Dharavi COVID-19 Death

Ten people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat, visited the 56-year-old’s house in Dharavi between 22 and 24 March.

Representational image of the Dharavi slums.

(Photo: Reuters)

The 56-year-old man who was the first to succumb to coronavirus in Mumbai’s Dharavi, reportedly came into contact with members who attended the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. About 10 people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat visited the man’s house in Dharavi between 22 and 24 March, reported Mumbai Mirror.

There were five men and five women in the group that allegedly visited the 56-year-old. While the men stayed at the local masjid, the women lived at the now-deceased man’s residence, reported The Hindu. The group then allegedly left for Kerala. Mumbai police is now trying to trace all the members.

“It appears the deceased had come in contact with Tablighi members. They left around 24 March and are suspected to have gone to Kerala. It seems the deceased provided them his flat. It is possible that they came in contact with several residents of the area. Now we have to trace each and every person, but for that, people need to cooperate.”

Niyati Thaker, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V) to <i>The Hindu</i>

The 56-year-old man owned a garment shop in Dharavi and died on 1 April, just a day after his test results came back positive. Two more people have tested positive for COVID-19 from Dharavi since then. One, a BMC conservancy worker who was a resident of Worli but swept the streets of Dharavi, and the other, a doctor from Wockhardt Hospital.

The BMC has already created containment zones in pockets of Dharavi where these cases were found and restricted the movement of over 2,500 persons in these areas.