Admitting that the crime branch of Delhi Police has issued a notice to him along with a questionnaire, Nizamuddin’s Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Mohd. Saad Kandhalvion Saturday replied to the same, saying he isn’t absconding but in self-quarantine and cannot join the probe till the Markaj is locked up.

Maulana Saad, in his written statement, has termed the incident of Jamaat headquarters guests being positive for coronavirus, “a co-incidence” only.

“This is a co-incidence. As soon as we got to know about the coronavirus, we banned the entry of guests in the headquarters. We have a record of every guest. The Jamaat headquarters made all possible efforts to send back all the guests to their homes,” Maulana Saad said in his statement.

The reply to the notice was handed over by Maulana Saad’s son and Jamaat Committee member Mohd. Yusuf Saad, who claimed that the statement was drafted in consultation with the Maulana.

According to a source, in a reply to the crime branch on Friday, the Jamaat headquarters said, “The police have sealed the markaz. Most of the agents of Maulana Saad are now in quarantine homes. Hence, it is impossible to provide these evidences. So, when the Jamaat headquarters will be opened and all managers will be assembled, the crime branch will be provided with the evidences”.

The Tablighi Jamaat event at the Nizamuddin has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.