From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), the principal Opposition party in Mizoram, has called upon the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) government to immediately fix the “loopholes” in the inner-line permit (ILP) checking mechanism and beef up security in the border areas of the state.
A party delegation led by ZPM legislator from Aizawl North-II, Vanlalthlana, recently visited Bairabi town in Kolasib district on the Mizoram-Assam border and detected “several loopholes” in the ILP detection apparatus besides dearth of adequate infrastructure and manpower.
Speaking to The Shillong Times over phone from Aizawl on Wednesday, Vanlalthlana warned that post publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, those left out from the register would have tried to sneak in to Mizoram taking advantage of the alleged lax security and dearth of proper detection mechanism.
“Right now, the situation is such that anyone can enter Mizoram. There is a possibility of illegal immigrants sneaking into the state as we found that the NRC check-gate did not have the software to ascertain whether a person coming to Mizoram from Assam or outside the state was an Indian citizen. Besides, the temporary ILP check-gate at Bairabi is equipped with a computer which has been non-functional since October 2” the MLA said.
The ZPM legislator said the team was surprised to find out that the lone police checkpost set-up to ascertain the identity of the occupants of vehicles into the border town did not have a barcode scanner to detect the temporary ILPs which are issued using barcodes.
“The barcodes on the temporary ILPs could only be scanned at the deputy commissioner’s office, which is rather strange. This way, many with fake ILPs could easily enter the state,” he said.
“We also found out that persons not having ILP or temporary ILP avoid checking at the temporary ILP counter, which is around one km from the Bairabi rail station, and towards the Assam border. These people get down from their vehicles before reaching the police check gate and sneak into inner Mizoram through a pathway around the railway tunnel,” Vanlalthlana said.
He further blamed the state government for the ‘lapses’ at a time when there was a possibility of illegal influx.
The MLA further said that the strength of police force deployed in the border town was far from adequate.
“Against the requirement of a company or 30 personnel, only 17 policemen from the 1st India Reserve Battalion are deployed in the border area. Then again, the infrastructure at the for the IRB personnel at Zophai, Bairabi leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.
“The state government needs to deploy more police personnel at Bairabi and other border areas to protect the state from infiltration,” the MLA added.