New Delhi: Two-and-a-half months after an FIR was lodged against him, Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad was seen for the first time in public as he stepped out of his residence on Friday.
According to reports, Saad stepped out of his Zakir Nagar residence on Friday afternoon. His picture was captured by a CCTV camera in the area, which establishes that the Tablighi chief is indeed in Delhi.
Though it has been 75 days since the FIR was lodged against him, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch is yet to question Saad.
According to reports, the Crime Branch will call Saad for questioning only after his COVID-19 test report is received.
Earlier in April, Saad's lawyer had claimed that the Tablighi Jamaat chief had tested negative for COVID-19, and his report had been sent to the Crime Branch.
However, the crime branch had asked the cleric to get his COVID-19 test done from a government hospital and send over his report.
The head of the Jamaat's Nizamuddin Markaz was in the centre of controversy over holding the global congregation amid the coronavirus crisis and is being investigated in cases lodged against him under various sections, including by the Enforcement Directorate.
The Delhi Police crime branch, had on March 31, lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by the Station House Officer of Nizamuddin police station for holding the congregation in alleged violation of the orders against large gatherings to contain the spread of coronavirus. Later, the Indian Penal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was added to the FIR.
Read: Maulana Saad yet to submit COVID-19 test report to Crime Branch
