In a major breakthrough, Kathua police have arrested 13 touts, including six from Punjab’s Pathankot area, for making money through illegal means by transporting outside labourers to Jammu and Kashmir via Lakhanpur in complete violation of COVID-19 protocol.The police have also found the involvement of a Railway police official and a chowkidar of the Excise Department for helping outside labourers to cross over to Jammu and Kashmir illegally. The role of an ASI and a constable is also being investigated.
“We received reports that COVID-19 protocols, set by the UT administration, were being violated. After an investigation, it came to our notice that a gang of touts, mainly taxi drivers, was operating in Madhopur area of Pathankot district and was misleading and creating fear among outside labourers with regard to their entry into the Union Territory under COVID-19 protocol,” said Shailendra Mishra, SSP Kathua.
“As Lakhanpur was the only surface link to Jammu and Kashmir, there used to be a rush of people coming to the UT from outside. Taking advantage of the situation, some people found it a lucrative business to make money by transporting people especially labourers to Jammu and Kashmir,” the SSP said, adding: “Under the modus operandi, the taxi drivers and touts in Madhopur, where the buses carrying labourers were making a halt, were creating fear and confusion for their entry into JK.”
“They were misleading labourers that they would be quarantined or face several hardships in getting their COVID-19 tests done at Lakhanpur. After convincing poor labourers, they were charging them anything between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per person for their transportation to the Union Territory. They used to keep their Aadhaar cards and other identity proofs with them to act as their contractor for generating a legal dispatch order, despite the fact that all such facilities are available at Lakhanpur free of cost,” Mishra said.
The SSP said seven FIRs had been registered in this regard, including four in Lakhanpur police station, one each in Kathua and Hiranagar, and one in Sujanpur police station of Pathankot district.
“A total of 14 persons — two from Kashmir, five from Kathua and seven from Pathankot — have been identified. Of them, 13 have been arrested. The main tout, Neetu of Pathankot, is still evading his arrest,” he said, adding that the involvement of a railway police SPO and a chowkidar of the Excise Department posted at Lakhanpur had also surfaced.
“The role of a police ASI and a constable, posted at another bridge on Ravi river, is also being investigated,” the SSP said.