India does away with cumbersome security for Pak bus

Ahead of the launch of the much-awaited bus service between Amritsar and Lahore, the Centre on Tuesday gave a relief to the passengers by doing away with the formal cumbersome security vetting system.

It also decided to set up a task force for developing the Wagah border check post, the entry point for the Amritsar-Lahore and the Delhi-Lahore bus services, on the India-Pakistan border to give it a truly international transit point look.

The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting between Union Home Secretary V K Duggal, who was visiting the border area to review the security arrangements, and senior officials of the Punjab Government in Wagah, around 30 kilometres from the Golden Temple Town of Amritsar.

He reviewed security and immigration arrangements ahead of the start of the inaugural bus from Lahore to Amritsar on January 20. The Indian side will ply its first bus on January 24.

"We have decided to do away with the formal security vetting for passengers travelling from Amritsar to provide hassle-free travel," Duggal told reporters. He, however, added that there would be "quiet vetting" to find out the antecedent of the passengers.