Shillong: A students' union in Meghalaya has erected checkpoints to prevent suspected illegal migrants from crossing over from Assam where the draft National Register of Citizens has excluded over 40 lakh people.

The drive by the Khasi Students' Union (KSU) in Meghalaya has embarrassed the state government, headed by a BJP ally, and police that operate infiltration check gates. The union has set up its checkpoints on the national highways in the three districts.

"We have to do this because there is no guarantee that the 40 lakh-plus people whose names did not figure in the NRC in Assam would not try to come to Meghalaya," KSU president Lambokstarwell Marngar told The Telegraph.

Marngar claimed that more than 1,000 people who did not possess any documents were "detected" by the members of the union in East Jaiñtia Hills district, West Khasi Hills district and Ri Bhoi district. He said that all the detected people were sent back to Assam.

The checkpoints were manned by KSU members at Ratacherra in East Jaintia Hills district bordering Cachar district, Athiabari in West Khasi Hills district bordering Kamrup and Goalpara districts of Assam and 20th Mile near Byrnihat in Ri Bhoi district.

Marngar said KSU members managed to stop and detect over 1,000 people who were ferried in not less than 30 trucks during the checking at Ratacherra alone. "None of them possessed any documents and their plan was to come over to Meghalaya," Marngar said.

He said the KSU decided to undertake this initiative since the infiltration check gates of the Meghalaya government "were not active and did not function properly in detecting illegal migrants entering the state".

He said the initiative would also put pressure on the Meghalaya government to come up with strong mechanisms to address the influx problem in the state and speed up the process of setting up entry and exit points.

KSU general secretary Donald V. Thabah said the state police did try to intervene after seeing the check points put up by the union.

"The checking continued till 4pm at Ratacherra. The superintendent of police of East Jaintia Hills discussed the influx issue with us there and agreed to convene a meeting on Wednesday with our members and other district officials," Marngar said.

In Ri Bhoi district, the checking by KSU activists continued till 1pm. After discussions with some police officials, the KSU was assured that police personnel manning the infiltration check point at Byrnihat would intensify the vigil. "They also invited our members to be present at the checkpoint," Marngar said.

Naga Front

The Naga People's Front (NPF) on Tuesday urged the Nagaland government to deploy more administrative and police forces in the border areas to assist the existing ones to tackle the possible fallout of the draft NRC in Assam.

"There is a possibility of large-scale illegal migrants entering Nagaland. Therefore, there is an urgent need to take preventive measures," the party said in a statement.