Mumbai: In a shocking development, around 3,000-plus stranded migrants from different parts of India crowded near the Bandra railway station Tuesday, demanding that they be provided with transportation facilities to return to their native places immediately.
The Mumbai Police, which attempted to cajole them from gathering in such huge numbers, resorted to a mild lathi charge when sections of the restive crowd seemed to be going out of control.
The migrants demanded that they could not continue to live here away from their homes or families in different parts of India with the nationwide lockdown getting extended till May 3 on Tuesday.
They asked the police to make arrangements for suitable transportation facilities to enable them to go to their respective towns and villages.
A large posse of police was on the site to bring the crowd under control even as videos of the incident went viral on social media.
Most demanded that they be allowed to go home. Sources said the crowd also had people from the nearby slums, who came in search of food. When the crowd ignored several warnings to disperse, batons were used, the police said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister and son of the state chief minister, Aaditya Thackeray, blamed the Modi government for the situation.
"The current situation at Bandra Station, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the Union Govt not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home", he said in a message posted on Twitter.
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