Lockdown violated in the name of religious event, arrests made

Rautahat, April 2

Locals in Rautahat have accused Muslim religious leaders of putting the community at risk by refusing to obey restrictive orders imposed to prevent possible coronavirus spread.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government had extended its lockdown until the midnight of April 7, urging people to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movement. The local administration too had imposed prohibitory order to keep people from coming out.

However, Muslim religious leaders were seen to be moving about freely holding religious gatherings violating the restrictive orders and putting the community at risk. Just yesterday, police, with the help of local youths, detained seven Muslim religious leaders from a mosque of Harshaha village in Hatahariya Municipality.

“After getting their health checked at Katahariya-based quarantine, the detained religious leaders have been sent to thier homes in Bara,” said Deputy Sub-inspector Surendra Singh of the Katahariya Area Police Office.

Similarly, two other religious leaders, who had come to Rautahat from different places of Bara, to take part in a religious meeting here have been placed in quarantine. Police detained them from Santapur Dostiya Chowk and put them in quarantine.

With the news of a number of Muslim members from the district returning home by secretly crossing the border after participating in a New Delhi-based religious congregation, the administration is said to have intensified security along the border now.

Meanwhile, so far 181 persons have been placed in quarantine in the district.

Among them, one person from Katahariya who had a temperature beyond 104 degrees Fahrenheit for two days was referred to Narayani Hospital in Birgunj for treatment last evening. He had returned from Gujarat of India about a month ago.

A version of this article appears in e-paper of The Himalayan Times on April 03, 2020.

The post Lockdown violated in the name of religious event, arrests made appeared first on The Himalayan Times.

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