Dehradun, Apr 21 (PTI) The Uttarakhand Police on Thursday launched a drive to "verify" antecedents of people who have come to the state over the past 10 years, a senior official said here on Thursday.

The drive begins just days ahead of the Char Dham Yatra in the state.

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It follows Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's announcement recently that a campaign will be conducted to verify details and antecedents of people coming from outside so that "peace and social harmony" could be maintained in the state.

Dhami had said this in reply to a question on a demand by seers to ban the entry of non-Hindus in Char Dham areas.

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Over the next 10 days, police will "verify" information related to people who have come from outside the state over the past 10 years, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said.

"Verification has been done earlier also. Antecedents of people from outside such as handcart pushers, labourers, professionals and businessmen have been checked in the past too," he said.

However, he said this time this verification is being done by running a special campaign for 10 days so that it is completed before the start of the Char Dham Yatra.

The chief minister had said on Tuesday that during the Char Dham Yatra, the state government will run a campaign to ensure that the pilgrims coming from outside are properly verified and elements likely to pose a threat to peace do not enter the state.

"Our state should remain peaceful. Its religion and culture should be preserved. The government will run a campaign for this at its own level. We will try that people coming from outside are properly verified and those who could pose a threat to peace do not enter the state," he said.

Describing Uttarakhand as a peace-loving state as well as a centre of religion and culture, the chief minister said that there is no place for miscreants, encroachers and religious fanatics here.

This year's Char Dham Yatra will begin with the opening of the doors of temples on May 3 on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

A record number of devotees are expected this year as there are no covid-induced restrictions on pilgrimage.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)