Police detain 33 labourers trying to enter J-K's Bhadarwah

The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday detained 33 labourers and sent them to a hospital for check-up after they were found trying to enter Doda district despite a country-wide lockdown, officials said.

Two groups of lobourers were trying to sneak into the the union territory's Bhadarwah town from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, through snow covered Chattergalla and Padri pass despite the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, they said.

"Chattergalla pass on Bhadarwah-Pathankot road and Padri on Bhadarwah-Chamba road have been closed but the 33 labourers tried to enter Bhadarwah, said ADC Rakesh Kumar.

Informed by the locals about the presence of some suspicious persons near Nalthi and Thanalla village, Bhadarwah police and civil administration immediately detained the two groups of labourers and sent them to sub-district hospital for the check-up of COVID-19 symptoms, the officials said.

Bhadarwah of Jammu and Kashmir borders Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district in the south and Punjab's Pathankot town in the south west.