Shillong, August 21: The General Secretary of the All Meghalaya Truck Owners and Drivers Welfare Association (AMTO&DWA), W. Warlapih, has expressed serious concern over reports of Meghalaya residents being stopped and forced to disembark from vehicles in Assam amid tensions following the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) motorcycle rally in Shillong.

Speaking to the media, Warlapih said the vandalism of vehicles in Shillong had severely disrupted interstate transportation and adversely affected the livelihoods of drivers and tourist transport operators from both Meghalaya and Assam.

He appealed to people in both states to exercise restraint and refrain from targeting innocent passengers, drivers and transport operators who had no involvement in the incidents.

Warlapih urged the governments and law-enforcement authorities of Meghalaya and Assam to intervene immediately to defuse tensions, restore normalcy and ensure the safe and unrestricted movement of travellers between the two states.

He said transport workers and ordinary commuters should not be made victims of the prevailing tensions and called for coordinated measures to facilitate the safe passage of those stranded or travelling between Meghalaya and Assam.