Twenty-six-year-old Nitin Kumar passed away while walking towards his home in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh from Sonipat in Haryana, as he was run over by a bus. The private bus hit him in Moradabad on Saturday, 28 March.
Kumar was employed at a shoe factory in Sonipat and was returning home after the factory was shut because of the state’s announcement of a 21-day lockdown. He was walking with his younger brother Pankaj who also works at the same place.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the police have seized the bus and are trying to trace its driver. The bus was ferrying passengers from Faridabad and belongs to a Meerut resident. The police are trying to trace him as well.
Station House Officer, Pakwarha police station, Surendra Pal Singh told the daily that an FIR had been lodged against the driver. And that the police were looking into how a private bus was plying, in spite of a lockdown.
Pankaj said that they had to return to their hometown because they couldn’t stay in Haryana without work or food. They had to leave for Rampur on foot because no transport was available.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear on Monday, 30 March, a petition seeing relief for thousands of workers who have been leaving big cities and going back to their hometowns. The migrant workers are journeying home as they’re unable to sustain themselves in the cities during the 21-day coronavirus lockdown period.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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