MHA has blacklisted 960 foreigners who were part of the congregation, Union home minister Amit Shah confirmed on Thursday.

Govt has also aggressively stepped up actions on contact tracing and quarantining attendees and those who had come in contact with them( Photo: Returners)

NEW DELHI: Just three days after the Delhi police began evacuating the Nizamuddin Markaz, the Indian government has blacklisted 960 foreigners who were part of the congregation, Union home minister Amit Shah confirmed on Thursday.

While the Delhi police have also issued a notice to the Maulana of the Tabligh Markaz seeking a response on why the area was not evacuated, the Centre has aggressively stepped up actions on contact tracing and quarantining attendees and those who had come in contact with them.

"Approximately 2100 foreigners had visited India for Tabligh activities. While approximately 824 of them, as on 21 March, were dispersed in different parts of the country, approximately 216 of them were staying at Nizamuddin Markaz. Others might have left the country before the lockdown," the ministry said, adding that the Bureau of Immigration had also been sharing details of all the international arrivals (both Indians and foreigners) at all the international airports in the country to the concerned state, based on the permanent address mentioned in their passport, in case of Indians, and hotel address, in case of foreigners.

While as many as 3,400 attendees had congregated there, the crowd had begun to disperse across all states for “Tabligh activities, which are coordinated by District Coordinators in different Districts," according to the Union home ministry.