Tourist bus banned for carrying non-locals
Source: Hueiyen News Service / NNN

Imphal, November 14 2014 : An Imphal-Guwahati tourist bus has been banned by the Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) after its volunteers caught 20 illegal migrants from the vehicle on November 12 .

Tourist bus with registration number MN 01-2092 has been banned for taking 20 non-Manipuris from Guwahati to the state, JCILPS co-convenor BK Moirangcha told media on Friday at the committee office, Nongmeibung.

He said the Imphal-Guwahati tourist bus, owned by one N Boby, resident of Imphal West' Kadangban, was earlier seized by volunteers of JCILPS along with another tourist bus, also owned by him, for carrying 63 illegal migrants at Kanglatombi in Senapati district on November 9 .

The 63 non-Manipuris were later whisked away by a team of Sekmai Police Station while the volunteers of the committee were conducting verification on them, he said.

Moirangcha said N Boby came to the committee's office on November 11 and promised that he would never carry illegal non-locals in his buses, and that he would accept any penalty given by the committee if the same mistake was made again.

Regarding November 12 incident, Moirangcha said JCILPS volunteers informed Boby about the 20 non-locals who were travelling in his bus, but he answered back that there were a few of them and not 20 .

Boby had also told the committee that he was ready if verification was necessary for the non-locals, he said, adding the bus owner did not know that some volunteers of the committee were also in the same bus.

The bus owner telephoned the driver and told him to drop all the non-Manipuris who were not possessing papers somewhere in Senapati and take the rest to Imphal, Moirangcha said.

He warned that the committee will ban Siroy Mega Counter too if bus tickets are given to illegal migrants in future, and that tourist buses that bring non-locals to the state will also face the same penalty.

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