Punjab dispatches nearly 1,200 J&K residents stuck in Pathankot amid lockdown

After nearly four weeks of being stranded in Punjab, 18 state roadways buses were arranged for ferrying the J&K residents to Lakhanpur

Around 1,200 J&K residents, who were stuck in Punjab’s Pathankot after the state borders were sealed off in view of coronavirus outbreak and subsequent curfew imposed by Punjab on March 23, started leaving for their state after nearly four weeks in a fleet of 18 special buses on Monday.

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As the J&K administration had earlier refused to allow entry of these residents into the state, they were accommodated by Punjab and lodged in some banquet halls, schools and other places.

The Punjab Roadways buses arranged to ferry these passengers were fully sanitised and physical distance was maintained by allowing only 26 passengers in one trip. SP Hemraj Pushap, DSP Sukhjinder Singh and other senior police officials escorted the buses to J&K where the residents were handed over to the UT officials.

On March 27, 17 Kashmiri migrant labourers, who had started walking towards Ramban (J&K) from Pathankot in the absence of any transport, were stopped by the UT administration and denied them entry. They all were later accommodated by a Pathankot resident, Randhir Singh Bitta, who also provided them food. After HT published the story of their plight, the district administration had started accommodating many such J&K residents in Pathankot who had reached here in large numbers.

“I am happy now that they are going to their respective homes,” said Randhir Singh Bitta. The J&K administration should have allowed them to enter their native state earlier and taken care of them, which the Punjab government did here, he added.

DSP Sukhjinder Singh said, “We hope to drop all of them by Monday evening. Their safety is our duty so we have ensured that distance is maintained among them in the buses.”