Five foreign nationals, who had reportedly attended the Delhi Tablighi Jamath, were shifted from a hotel in Yelahanka in Bengaluru, where they were under quarantine, to Banaswadi on Saturday. However, the move was met with protests from local residents and MLAs.
As per reports, the five member of the Jamath were originally quarantined at Haj Bhavan, but have been shifted from ward to ward after locals staged protests. They were put under quarantine in hotels on Ballari Road in Yelahanka. However, the constituency’s MLA S.R. Vishwanath along with some locals staged a protest on Friday, demanding that they be moved.
The foreign nationals were then moved to a hotel in the Kacharakanahalli ward in Banaswadi. But after they were shifted, councillor Padmanabha Reddy and other locals staged a protest outside the Banaswadi police station. They stressed that they feared the spread of COVID-19 in their neighbourhood and was opposed to letting the foreigners who had attended the Jamath stay there.
Reddy said that the residents in his ward were afraid of contracting COVID-19.
The protesters back off only after receiving assurances from BBMP that the foreign nationals would be shifted elsewhere.
The foreign natinals have reportedly been taken back to Haj Bhavan were they were initially quarantined.
