The four coronavirus suspects had boarded a train to Surat from Mumbai (Representational)
Four passengers were deboarded from the Mumbai-Delhi Garib Rath train in Mumbai for allegedly jumping quarantine on Wednesday, Western Railway officials sources said.
Barely an hour after the train left Mumbai, some passengers and the travelling ticket examiners raised an alarm when they noticed the "quarantine stamp" on the back of the palms of the four.
The train was stopped at Palghar and the four passengers were offloaded from coach numbers G4 and G5. They were promptly handed over to a medical team there.
Questioning by the local health authorities revealed that they had come from Germany and were headed home in Surat.
"The passengers were immediately handed over to the Palghar District medical authorities who also confirmed that the four were "stamped" at Mumbai Airport for a 14-day compulsory quarantine," an official told IANS.
Its not clear how they managed to evade the attention of the Mumbai health authorities, reach the railway station, book tickets, board the train and travel unhindered for over an hour before being offloaded at Palghar station, a couple of hours away from their intended destination (Surat).
The four passengers are currently lodged in a Palghar medical facility and further details are awaited.
It may be recalled that on Monday, the Maharashtra authorities had implemented the decision to "stamp" all people arriving from COVID-19 affected countries and to send them to 14 days' compulsory quarantine as a precaution.