55 arrested after police, migrants clash in Surat
SURAT: Police in Gujarat’s Surat fired tear gas shells on Saturday to disperse angry migrant workers, who took to the streets at Mora demanding that trains be arranged for their return to their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar. This is the fifth such protest in Surat over the last month amid job losses because of the national lockdown that was imposed in March to check the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Thousands of workers gathered on streets at the Mora village next to the industrial belt of Hazira. They were demanding that they be sent to their home states. When police stopped them, they pelted stones and attacked them,” said Surat’s police commissioner D N Patel.
He said the police resorted to “mild” lathi-charge and tear gas shelling to disperse the crowd. “We have arrested 55 people so far and around 50 others have been detained. More accused are been identified with the help of drones and CCTV footage,” Patel said.
A team of State Reserve Police has been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.
On Monday, 204 people were arrested in Surat on charges of attempt to murder and rioting after migrant workers allegedly attacked policemen as they gathered to demand their return to their native place. On April 29, five people were detained and another 300 booked for alleged rioting and violating the Covid-19 following a clash between migrant workers and police.
The state on Tuesday formed a committee to ensure the management and coordination for sending migrant workers from Surat to their native districts.
“During the lockdown, some people are making efforts to mislead the citizens of the state to protest against the lockdown while the lockdown is for the benefit of the citizens. Such individuals will be traced and subjected to legal action,” said Gujarat police chief Shivanand Jha .
Ashwani Kumar, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani’s secretary, said 327 special trains have been operated for migrant workers across India. “Out of that, Gujarat has operated 147 trains, or 45% of the total trains, to ensure a safe return of over 2.04 lakh migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The chief minister has urged the migrant workers to be patient...,” said Kumar.
Ramdev Kumar, a construction worker from Rajasthan, said, “We have run out of money and other resources. We work hard on daily basis to feed our families. But for 50 days, we have not had any work. That is why we want to return to our native places...”. .