Ahead of verification, majority of migrants leave village

A day after the panchayat of Lakhanpur Garcha Patti in Fatehgarh Sahib passed a resolution asking migrants to leave the village within a week, a police team initiated a drive to check their identity proofs.

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However, hours before cops reached the village, a majority of the migrants had left for another place.

Khamano DSP RS Kahlon, who led the team, met panchayat members and verified the antecedents of the migrants living on the outskirts of the village. While some migrants fled the village, a few refused to meet the team.

Kahlon said they had assured the migrants that those having Aadhaar card or a valid proof would not be harassed. He said those having their ID proofs at their native villages in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar would be verified through their local police.

“The migrants having valid ID proofs told us that those who fled the village were criminals and had been indulging in petty crimes,” said Kahlon, adding that they would try to trace them.

Sarpanch Barinder Singh Binda of Lakhanpur Garcha Patti village said their apprehensions had come true and they were satisfied with the police action. “We had said earlier, too, that the panchayat had no objection to migrants with valid identity proofs. We are only objecting those residing without any proofs and are involved in suspicious activities,” he said.

The panchayat resolution read, “Many of them roam around in the village and often smoke. They are also addicted to drugs due to which their involvement in thefts, robberies and drug-related crimes cannot be ruled out.”

Some of the migrants who met the police said they were willing to stay and work in the village. “We have been working honestly and those who were involved in wrongdoings and feared police action have already left. They were bringing bad repute to us as well,” an migrant said.