HASAN HADI /Dehradun
The people living near the ISBT are worried with about 200 people being seen living on the roadsides near the principal bus station of Dehradun for the past two months. They said that the sudden appearance of a large number of strangers is worrying them about their security. “We have no idea whence they have come and why they are staying put near the ISBT which people in their thousands throng daily,” one of them said.
Quizzed on the residents’ insecurity, the ISBT in-charge, Harsh Arora said that the police have already verified the identity of all these people living in the area. “Though there is no immediate security threat, we are keeping a close watch on them,” he added.
When a woman living on the roadside was asked about their background, she said they had come from Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh. “We do small jobs and when there is no job for us we take to begging for survival,” she said. Many children were seen playing merrily. Their parents said that these children go to school regularly. “A vehicle comes daily to take us to schools,” a little girl confided.
Further conversations revealed that these families have come not only from Hardoi but from Lucknow. When asked whether they cast votes in elections, they said that they return to where they originally hail from during elections.
Some of the locals remained unconvinced despite the police assurance, wondering whether they had been brought here as part of a political plan. “This is just an assumption and so we cannot do anything,” one of the locals commented.
