Youth dies in Shramik Special train triggering Covid-19 scare

A youth travelling in Pune-Prayagraj Shramik Special train was found dead near Satna railway station on Tuesday, triggering coronavirus scare among the co-passengers.

The youth, identified as Akhilesh Singh Rana, suddenly fell sick after the train reached Katni railway station, two of his friends accompanying him told police.

A medical team rushed to the spot to carry the body to district hospital of Satna, a senior police officer of Satna district said.

“The youth was fine when he boarded train along with his two friends, Jai Prakash Thakur and Trivuban Singh, at Pune. He suddenly fell sick after train reached Katni railway station”, the police quoting his friends said. The deceased hailed from Gondi in Uttar Pradesh.

“Cause of death of the youth was yet to be ascertained”, he added. This is second such incident in the state in last fortnight.

Last week, five migrant workers who were travelling in a mango-laden truck from Hyderabad to Lucknow, were killed when the vehicle overturned near Patha village in Narasinghpur district.

Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to arrange transportation of migrant workers who were marching on foot from various parts of Maharashtra to their villages in Uttar Pradesh in the wake of lockdown, to Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Hundreds of migrant workers were seen going to their native villages in Uttar Pradesh via border towns of Madhya Pradesh, on foot and in trucks and auto rickshaws in the last several days.

Many non-government organisations and even local police have been arranging food and shelter at several places on the route for them.

The NGOs and local police were even seen distributing footwears to these hapless migrant workers free of cost at several places.

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday ordered the local administrations in the border towns of MP to arrange buses for them to send them to their respective districts.

“These workers will be transported in two phases. They will be picked up at Madhya Pradesh- Maharashtra border areas by buses and taken to Dewas. From there, they will be taken to Guna and from Guna they will be taken to Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh” an official spokesman here said.

The plan would ensure that the migrant workers who were coming from Mumbai and Pune to their respective villages in Dewas and Guna districts in Madhya Pradesh along with those of Uttar Pradesh reach their homes in their villages in these districts”, he added.