619 Foreigners Arrested Across India Post Covid-19 Breakout For Violating Visa Rules, Almost All Are Tablighis

With 16 new arrests carried out on Monday (20 April), the various Governments have so far arrested 619 foreign nationals since the COVID-19 outbreak for violating visa rules, reports Times of India.

All the Monday's 16 arrests took place in Uttar Pradesh (UP)'s Prayagraj and were placed under temporary isolation in a facility prepared at the State's Naini jail. The police also arrested a professor of Allahabad University for arranging the accommodation for 21 Tablighi Jamaat delegates and not apprising the police or the administration about them.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that of the 619 foreigners who have been arrested so far across the nation, 341 have been booked in Uttar Pradesh, 157 in Maharashtra, 66 in Bihar, 34 in Karnataka and 21 in Jharkhand. At the same time, three other States, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh have lodged FIrs against foreign nationals, but not yet made any arrests.

It should also be noted that except a few of those arrested, almost all of 619 foreign nationals are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat's religious congregation which was held in Delhi's Nizamuddin last month in contravention of the rules under imposition.