Lucknow’s cantonment area sealed off after 12 Tablighi attendees test positive for Covid-19

A curfew in Sadar Bazar, next to Lucknow cantonment, was extended by two days as medical teams screen the residential area for Covid-19 cases.

Police personnel walk through a locked down Sadar Bazar area where 12 new cases of coronavirus were reported | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Lucknow: The Lucknow cantonment area adjoining Sadar Bazar has been cordoned off, barring even soldiers, and curfew in the Bazar extended for 48 hours after 12 people living in a mosque in the area tested positive for coronavirus. The group had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi in March, a religious event that has turned into the biggest Covid-19 cluster in South Asia.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey had said that 12 members of Tablighi Jamaat were found staying in a mosque in Sadar area on Friday. “They had tested positive for coronavirus. As soon as, the information was received, Sadar was turned into a sterile zone to prevent spread of the virus,” he said, according to PTI.

The mosque where the group was discovered is located in Kasai Bada, a residential area of Sadar Bazar with a population of 50,000 people surrounding the cantonment.

The Ali Jaan Mosque in Sadar Bazar in Lucknow | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

P.K. Gupta, the police chowki in-charge of Lucknow Cantonment, told to ThePrint, “Even the soldiers cannot enter without permission. Out of bound is done when an area is considered unsafe for the jawans.”

“Only military medical teams, QRT (quick reaction teams), emergency MES (military engineer services) services and essential services will be allowed in the military areas,” Gupta said.

Public announcements were made in the area asking people to stay in their homes.

In the past three days, Lucknow city hasn’t registered any new cases of coronavirus.

Residents ‘heckle’ medics

The measures were imposed after a medical team surveyed the area surrounding the masjid Saturday, during which an altercation broke out with residents. On Sunday, the team returned with a police escort.

A medical worker speaks to a local as a part of the screening exercise for coronavirus cases in Sadar Bazar | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

Dr Dinesh Singh who was part of the medical team, said “We were intimidated yesterday by the locals of the area after which we had to leave,” and added that they were having trouble getting the full details from them.

“We will only survey those who are willing to tell us about themselves, else we let them be as there is not much we can do,” Dr Singh said.

There have been several reports of members of the Tablighi Jamaat being uncooperative and misbehaving with medical personnel at quarantine camps.