COVID-19: Odisha Police seals 57 roads to West Bengal

Bhubaneswar: With four more persons having travel history to Kolkata testing positive for COVID-19 in the state, Odisha Police on Wednesday sealed roads along the West Bengal border.

The roads were sealed and additional force deployment was made a day after DGP Abhaya visited the border check gates.

The travel history of the four COVID-19 patients released by the state government claimed that all of them had visited Kolkata and returned to Odisha in the first week of April, which indicated that the people could easily cross through the border even it was sealed due to lockdown.

Odisha governments COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi said that it was not possible to stop human movement along the border with West Bengal which is 202 km long.

Bagchi said one-third of the state's 83 COVID-19 cases had West Bengal link. "West Bengal link returnees are another challenge for Odisha after Nizamuddin link," he said.

Apart from two main check gates at Laxmannath and Udaypur crossing, there are at least 90 motorable roads to West Bengal through Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The people stranded in West Bengal used those roads to enter into Odisha, a senior police officer said.

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While there are 37 such roads through Balasore district, 22 other roads connect Mayurbhanj to West Bengal.

This apart, people used to walk down to Odisha through forest and water bodies crossing the border, the police officer said.

However, following the DGPs instruction and in wake of a hue and cry over the West Bengal returnees testing positive for COVID-19, the police on Wednesday closed 35 of the 37 roads from Balasore side and 22 others from Mayurbhanj side by erecting barricades.

We have also deployed armed forces in certain entry points in order to prevent the entry of anyone into Odisha territory, the officer said, adding that anybody caught trespassing into the state will have to remain in quarantine and to be subjected to coronavirus test before getting released.

The DGP also issued an advisory alerting all Marine Police Stations to be on the lookout for boats attempting to bring persons to Odisha, ADG Railways and Coastal Security Pranabindu Acharya said.

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He said the marine police station personnel have been directed to intensify patrolling and also deploy personnel at landing points in the coast.

(PTI)