Godhra residents stranded in Karachi reach Amritsar

Wasim Musa, one of the members of the group from Godhra, currently in the Amristar Army camp, told The Indian Express, “We returned to India after being stranded in Karachi for four months. At the border, fellow passengers from other states boarded buses duly arranged by their state governments and departed. But officials at the border told us that we will have to choose between paid and free quarantine facility in Amritsar because the Gujarat government has not made any arrangement to pick us up. Since we were out of money, we chose the free quarantine facility.”

The group was visiting Karachi in March for a family wedding; the groom hails from Godhra and the bride from Karachi. “We want to return home. We are very grateful to the Army for they are taking good care of us at the quarantine camp but we want to know what we have to do next,” Musa said.

Panchmahal District Collector Amit Arora said that the decision on facilitating travel for residents stranded in different states is with the state government.

“We have not received any intimation of the return of the group from Amritsar from the state government. We know that they are in quarantine at Amritsar. Further decision on this can be taken by the state government,” Arora said.

Principal Secretary Ashwani Kumar did not respond to calls and text messages.