13 held for cheating labourers entering J&K

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, September 29

The Kathua police have arrested 13 touts, including six from Punjab’s Pathankot area, for making money through illegal means by fleecing and transporting outside labourers to J&K via Lakhanpur in complete violation of the Covid-19 protocol.

The police have also found the involvement of a General Railway Police official and a chowkidar of the Excise Department for helping outside labourers to cross over to J&K in an illegal manner. The role of a police ASI and constable was also being investigated.

“We received reports that the Covid-19 protocol set by the UT Administration was being violated. After investigation, it came to our notice that a gang of touts, mainly taxi drivers, was operating in the Madhopur area of Pathankot district and it was misleading and creating fear among outside labourers with regard to their entry into J&K under the Covid-19 protocol,” said Shailendra Mishra, SSP, Kathua.

“As Lakhanpur was the only surface link to J&K, there used to be 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 J&K”.

“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 and Rs 2,000 per person for their transportation to J&K. 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 were registered in this regard — four at the Lakhanpur police station, one each in Kathua and Hiranagar and one in the Sujanpur police station of Pathankot district.

“A total of 14 persons — two from Kashmir, five from Kathua and seven from Pathankot — have been identified, out 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 General Railway Police SPO and chowkidar of the Excise Department, posted at Lakhanpur, had also surfaced.

“The role of a police ASI and constable, posted at another bridge on the Ravi, is also being investigated,” the SSP said.

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