New Delhi, April 5: Eight members of the Tablighi Jamaat were intercepted before boarding a flight to Malaysia from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in the national capital. They are suspected to be part of the Nizamuddin Markaz congregation - considered to be the single-biggest contributor to the rise of coronavirus cases in India. Their custody would be handed over to the Delhi Police. Catch the live updates on coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.

The Jamaat members who were intercepted are all Malaysian nationals. They were scheduled to Malindo Air relief flight, which is taking stranded tourists and visitors back to Malaysia. The airport officials, however, were alerted about their presence at the Nizamuddin congregation which prompted them to bar the Jamaatis from boarding the Milando flight. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in India.

Update by ANI

Nearly one-third of all COVID-19 cases recorded in India so far are linked to the Jamaat congregation in mid-March. Around 9,000 members of the Islamic sect had convened at their headquarters or Markaz at the Banglewali Masjid in Nizamuddin area of Delhi. The attendees included over 200 foreign delegates who were reportedly infected with coronavirus.

"Till now we have found cases related to Tableeghi Jamaat from 17 states, 1023 COVID-19 positive cases have been found to be linked to this event. Out of the total cases in the country, around 30 percent are linked to one particular place," said Health Ministry Joint Secretary Luv Agarwal.

The states and UTs where the virus has spread through the congregation include Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Jharkhand.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 05, 2020 01:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).