Family of Barabanki’s sole positive patient denies UP govt’s claim of Tablighi link

Barabanki District Magistrate Adarsh Singh on Thursday told The Indian Express, “On April 1, we received a list from higher-ups of people suspected to be linked with the Jamaat. The list was prepared based on call detail records (CDR). His phone number may have been included in the list as he was found to be in that area (Nizamuddin). From Barabanki district, he was the only person in the list. He was sent to institutional quarantine.”

Singh said the 33-year-old worked as an electrician in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area, “which is not very far from Nizamuddin”. The two locations are 10 km apart.

“It can’t be ruled out that he attended Tablighi meetings. In his call detail records, his location has been found to be near Nizamuddin, which is a hotspot for the virus,” said the DM.

Singh said that the man did not reveal his travel history to the administration till April 1. “He was asked to stay in home quarantine, but he violated it twice and went to a bank. He has not been cooperating and revealing anything, and hence, we lodged an FIR on Tuesday against him also at local police station,” the DM added.

The patient’s 66-year-old father, a farmer, said his son had nothing to do with the Jamaat. “My son lives in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and he has never attended any Tablighi Jamaat meeting. He lives in a rented house in Shaheen Bagh and has been working as an electrician for the last six years. He is a daily wager. Where is the time to attend Jamaat meetings?” said the father who lives in the village with his 10 family members.

The family was quarantined at Mayo Hospital in Barabanki on April 3 and returned to their house after all of them tested negative.

Barabanki Chief Medical Officer Dr Ramesh Chandra said, “The 33-year-old has been kept at a level-one hospital in Satrik area of the district. His condition is also normal.”