GUWAHATI, April 5 - Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today warned that if the Tablighi Jamaat members who attended the congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz do not reveal themselves by today, criminal cases will be lodged against them.
�There are many others who have attended the Markaz event or came in touch with such people. They are still absconding. If they do not reveal themselves by today, the government will take up criminal cases against them from tomorrow,� Sarma said.
He said the government will �ultimately come to know the identity of such people� and cases will also be taken up against the villagers who give shelter to such people.
Sarma also met leaders of Guwahati Lakhtokia Masjid, where the State headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat is situated, to request them to share the list of all those who visited Markaz because it was important to quarantine them.
Twenty five of the 26 COVID-19 positive cases in the State so far are those who either attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Markaz Nizamuddin or came in touch with such people.
Meanwhile, Spanish Garden resident Manish Tibrewal�s wife and daughter have tested negative for the virus. Tibrewal, who had tested positive on Friday night, is being treated at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
The minister also informed that test results of samples of 34 persons, including two doctors, who came into contact with Tibrewal, are also negative. �As it has been more than fourteen days since they met Tibrewal we have allowed them to go home from the quarantine camp. But they will remain in isolation,� Sarma said.
However, three of them will remain in the quarantine camp as they were on the �border line�. The minister said that steps have been taken for removal of stress in patients who were also being given yoga therapy.
During the day, the health minister visited Goalpara to check preparedness on COVID-19 and also enquire about the three positive patients admitted there.
