Mumbai Police Detain Labour Leader After 800-1000 Migrant Workers Gather At Bandra

Navi Mumbai Police detained a person identified as Vinay Dubey for mobilising a large crowd of migrant workers and spreading rumours. More than a thousand migrant workers gathered in Mumbai demanding transport arrangements to return to their villages.

The crowd congregated more than three hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown till May 3. In several videos which went viral on social media, the police were seen using mild force to disperse the crowd of migrants which had gathered near the Bandra railway station in suburban Mumbai.

Police registered an FIR against about a thousand workers for creating a public health scare and gathering at one place in violation of the lockdown. Although authorities and NGOs have been supplying food, many claim they are going hungry and would like to return to their villages.

Maharashtra chief miister Uddhav Thackeray assured the migrants of safety and security and said that his government would take care all migrant labourers. Thackeray also spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue. The Union Home Minister is reported to have told Thackeray that the state government should be vigilant about such issues. The Maharashtra Chief Minister reassured migrant workers observing that the lockdown is not a "lock-up".

Uddhav Thackeray stated that the guilty would be punished for spreading rumours. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh ordered an inquiry into the source of the rumour about transport arrangements for the return of workers. He said that those spreading such rumours would be dealt with firmly.