Nagaland, Meghalaya gear up to check influx

Guwahati: Bogged down by the growing fear of an exodus by the 19 lakh people left out of the final National Register of Citizens in Assam, its two neighboring states of Nagaland and Meghalaya have issued advisories to the police to take preventive measures to check any influx of illegal immigrants into their states.

The advisory in Nagaland, by its home department, said all entry points and check gates manned by the police should be suitably strengthened to prevent any possible influx of illegal immigrants. Mobile patrols at vulnerable locations should also be activated.

It also clarified that non-locals entering the state must not be allowed without valid passes issued by the district administrations, and that any unusual influx of outsiders without valid passes should be promptly brought to the knowledge of the district authorities.

The state government also asked all village, town and municipal authorities to strictly monitor the influx of people from outside the state. It directed the district administrations and police to verify the antecedents of tenants and strictly monitor the regulation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), especially along the border areas.

The fear that those who have been excluded from the NRC in Assam may look for shelter in neighbouring states also dominated the ongoing Assembly session in Meghalaya, where legislators cutting across party line voiced fears over the possibility of such people entering the state and urged the government to take immediate steps to check such influx into the state.

Saying that 223 “outsiders” travelling without any valid documents had already been detected at different check gates and pushed back into Assam, Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said that appropriate legislative measures and steps were being taken to ensure that those left out of the NRC in Assam cannot infiltrate into the state.

Mr Sangma said as part of the effort to check such influx, checkpoints had been asked to be extra vigilant.

An inspector-general has been deputed as a nodal officer to oversee the entire process of people getting into the state on a daily basis, he added.

The officials are coordinating with SPs and gathering data on all entering via check gates on a daily basis.