River routes along the Assam-Bengal border are posing a challenge for Assam police who suspect that some people may use it to enter illegally into the northeastern state to avoid being screened at the Srirampur checkgate in Kokrajhar.

Hundreds of people from outside the state with valid passes and necessary permissions have been allowed to enter Assam through the Srirampur checkgate, after the Centre allowed inter-state travel for the stranded.

Arrangements were already set up at the checkgate by the Assam health department for screening and sending people with Covid-19 symptoms into quarantine. However, police suspect that some may try to avoid the process and sneak into Assam via the river routes.

Assam director-general of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said, “We have beefed up vigilance along the Sankosh river, which flows along the Assam-Bengal border, to check any illegal entry into Assam.”

The Sankosh originates in northern Bhutan and flows into the Brahmaputra in Assam.

Mahanta also visited the sars in lower Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Thursday and held discussions with the locals. The village defence parties (VDPs), which aid the local police in keeping surveillance in most sar areas where security is usually very slim, were also alerted to check any illegal entry.

A VDP comprises 20-25 volunteers, who are responsible for guarding a particular village jurisdiction.

Earlier this month, a VDP in Kokrajhar district detained eight persons trying to cross the river and enter Assam. Around 19 villages are located along the Sankosh in Assam.

Kokrajhar superintendent of police Rakesh Roushan told The Telegraph, “We have deployed a police company and a large contingent of VDP personnel for the job. They have been keeping round-the-clock vigil on the river routes. We are also carrying out river patrolling.”

The police have so far seized 23 country and 11 mechanised boats since the lockdown started. All of them were plying in violation of lockdown norms, police sources said. The Assam government has already sounded an alert in Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts, both bordering Bengal, where the Covid-19 cases are increasing.