SHILLONG, April 18: A handful of people from outside the state, who allegedly entered Mihmyntdu, Jowai, without any valid documents, were apprehended on Sunday by members of the Jaintia Student’s Union (JSU) Jowai Circle and Jaintia Students Movement (JSM) Western Region, who lambasted the government while urging it to ramp up checking for entry of people into the state, especially as COVID-19 cases are surging of late.
In a statement issued here, the two student bodies informed that the people were attempting to sell some items in the village, adding that they could not produce any documents when asked. The organisations said that they were asked to return to their respective home places.
On the other hand, the two organisations have strongly criticised the state government for its ‘failure’ to detect people from outside who are entering the state without any valid documents. “The government needs to take stringent measures, especially when the state is again seeing a surge in the COVID-19 cases,” president of the JSU-Jowai Circle, Aplang Lamare, said in the statement.