Villagers asked to self quarantine after attending Ansari's funeral defying lockdown

Authorities have asked the people living in Bertola and nearby villages of Brahmanbaria's Sarail upazila to stay indoors for the next 14 days because they attended the funeral prayer of esteemed Islamic scholar Allama Maulana Zubayer Ahmed Ansari defying the district-wide lockdown. 

Sarail Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Abu Saleh Md Musa said this to The Business Standard on Saturday via phone. 

"We made announcements on loudspeakers asking people to stay indoors in Bertola and nearby villages. We told them to maintain quarantine for next 14/15 days," he said. 

The UNO also said that they are forming a committee with local youths so that they can get the necessary items to the doorsteps of the villagers if needed.

"We took this initiative because the risk of coronavirus spread has increased with many people gathering at the funeral," he added.  

According to the Brahmanbaria civil surgeon, 17 people have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the district so far. Among them, 2 have died. The rest are currently in isolation. 

The district has been placed under lockdown since April 11 to curb the spread of the virus. 

Earlier on Saturday morning, around one lakh people gathered at the funeral prayer of esteemed Islamic scholar Allama Maulana Zubayer Ahmed Ansari.

The incident took place in Brahmanbaria's Jamia Rahmania Madrasa of Sarail upazilla.

People came from different parts of the country to attend the funeral. The crowd blocked nearly two kilometers of Dhaka-Sylhet highway.

After the funeral, Ansari was buried in the madrasa compound.

Officer in-charge of Sarail police station Sahadat Hossain said, "We didn't expect so many people to come to the funeral. We could do nothing after the crowd started flooding in."

Ansari, 56, died yesterday evening at his home at Brahmanbaria Sadar. The deceased left behind his wife, three sons and four daughters.