93 migrants held in Surat; crackdown in Kottayam
SURAT/KOTTAYAM: At least 93 migrant labourers have been arrested in Surat in Gujarat for allegedly defying the nationwide lockdown and attacking police, an official said on Monday.
According to police, about 500 migrant workers in Surat took to the roads on Sunday demanding transportation facilities to reach their home towns.
Situation became tense in Ganesh Nagar and Tirupati Nagar localities when the migrants came on the roads, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vidhi Chaudhari said.
A number of people hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar live in Surat’s Pandesara area, where both the localities are situated, and work in powerlooms and textile processing units here, another police official said.
“When the police tried to convince them to remain indoors, they started pelting stones at the security personnel. Several police vehicles were damaged in the stone pelting,” Chaudhari said.
The police resorted to firing 30 teargas shells to disperse the crowd, said Chaudhari, whose official car was also damaged in the incident.
While some miscreants were arrested on Sunday night, some others were held on Monday, she said.
“We have lodged an FIR against a mob of 500 people and arrested 93 of them. They were charged under various IPC sections for rioting, attacking police, damaging public property and also under provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act for defying restrictions,” the official said
In a related incident, the Kerala police on Monday launched a crackdown on rumour-mongers and instigators of unrest, a day after a village in the state witnessed a massive protest by migrant workers violating the 21-day lockdown.
Kottayam district collector PK Sudheer Babu issued orders under Section 144 of the CRPC prohibiting assembly of more than four people in the district. The prohibitory orders were issued as a measure “to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the district”, officials said.
The orders were issued following reports submitted by the district police chief and sub-divisional magistrate, stating that there were instances of public gathering in the district even after the government announced measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, officials said.
District Police Chief G Jaidev said cases have been registered against some identified people for unlawful assembly violating the lockdown orders issued by the government as part of measures taken by the government to prevent the spread of the virus.
He said a migrant worker has been taken into custody in connection with the incident and is being interrogated. Prima facie the police suspect a conspiracy behind the incident, the district police chief said.
Those who instigated the workers will be arrested, the district police chief said. A team has been constituted toinvestigate the case, Jaidev said.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said on Sunday that there was a conspiracy behind it and lashed out at the “forces” which were trying to create unrest in the society by provoking the working class during the coronavirus pandemic.
Local leaders of ruling CPI(M) have alleged role of some radical elements in creating unrest in Payippad village.
Seeking transportation to travel to their native places, hundreds of migrants took to the streets in Payippad village, near Changanassery, on Sunday.
The Kerala government quickly stepped in to defuse the tension by deploying police force and sending the Kottayam district authorities to pacify the agitating migrant workers, who are called guest labourers in the state.
The district collector and superintendent of police held talks with the migrant workers and managed to send them back to their camps.
The authorities have assured the migrant workers that all facilities would be provided for their comfortable stay in the state during the lockdown period.