'Train cancelled' rumour fuels migrant unrest

By Nischal Sanghavi

Demanding immediate travel facilities, migrant workers hurled stones at police and damaged vehicles on national highway near Rajkot

With lockdown getting extended, frustrated migrants who are unable to reach home are venting their ire at the authorities.

Demanding immediate travel arrangements, migrant workers on Sunday hurled stones at the police and damaged vehicles on a national highway near Rajkot in Gujarat, police said.

Some police personnel and a local journalist were injured in the incident that occurred in Shapar area near Rajkot, about 215 kms away from Ahmedabad.

As per Ramesh Tilara, President, Shapar Veraval Industrial Association, there were three trains scheduled to leave from Rajkot for interstate labourers on Sunday at 6 am, 9 am and noon. For this there was a pick up point near Shaparnon Gondal Highway. They were to be transported by bus to the railway station from here. However, due to some reason the trains got postponed, leaving the migrants enraged as they had been waiting to go home. There were also rumours that the trains have been cancelled, fuelling further unrest. One of the trains to UP left at 6 pm with 1,600 of them. The train to Bihar has been rescheduled for May 21.

Rajkot (Rural) superintendent of police Balram Meena said 25 migrants were arrested, including a purported instigator, after identifying them through video footage of the incident.

"A group of agitated migrants resorted to vandalism by damaging vehicles on a national highway demanding arrangement from local authorities for return to their native states," a police official said.

Meena said an FIR was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and for attempt to commit culpable homicide.