Maha: Collector seeks probe as 12 travel to Latur from Haryana

A letter has been sent to the chief commissioner in Haryana to probe how a group of 12 people travelled from the northern state all the way to Maharashtra's Latur using emergency passes in violation of the lockdown in place for the coronavirus outbreak, Collector G Sreekanth said on Monday. The 12, all Andhra Pradesh residents who had attended a religious gathering in Ferozepur Jhirka in Haryana, were apprehended from a mosque in Nilanga in Latur on Friday, and eight of them tested positive for coronavirus the next day, officials said.

"People are given such passes on humanitarian grounds. However, there is no rule to issue them during a national disaster. I have written to the Haryana chief commissioner to probe this oversight and act against the guilty officials," Sreekanth said. "This group travelled through several states on the basis of the emergency pass," he said.