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Bukit Aman internal security and public order department (operations) chief MV Srikumar Nair said the directive came from the inspector-general of police.
“Please inform those who are conducting roadblocks,” he said in a 30-second video believed to be directed to the force.
He was said to be responding to reports that authorities were not accepting letters issued by the transport ministry or the international trade and industry ministry.
Yesterday, the transport ministry said drivers and attendants of express buses, lorries, and other commercial vehicles under the essential services category who had to travel across states needed only to apply for an approval letter from them.
Holders of the ministry’s approval letters did not require additional letters of permission to travel interstate during the total lockdown.
When contacted, Srikumar confirmed the authenticity of the video and said police at roadblocks would be giving leeway “over the next two or three days” for those working for companies that had not received their Miti approval letters yet.
However, he stressed they would still need approval letters from the relevant ministries or the agencies their sectors operated under.
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