As per latest news and speculations Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad Kandhalvi has tested negative for Covid-19 on Monday, in a test done in a private laboratory, according to his lawyer Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi. The Tablighi Jamaat chief, who is currently in home quarantine, has not been summoned by the Delhi Police so far, the lawyer said.

“Maulana Saad has tested negative for Covid-19. He is not an absconder, nor has he been asked by the Delhi Police to appear. We have not received any summons. We have received three notices till now and have responded to all three of them,” Ayyubi said, news agency ANI reported.

“People of Markaz and Tablighi Jamaat are fully co-operating with the Delhi Police. Delhi Police has recently searched Maulana Saad’s office in Markaz and offices and residences of other accused,” the lawyer said.

The chief of Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin Markaz was in the midst of a row over allowing the global congregation amid the coronavirus pandemic and is being investigated in cases lodged against him under various sections, including by the Enforcement Directorate.

Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.