Around 40 migrant labourers working in Mumbai were caught in Nashik on Friday, 27 March, morning for allegedly trying to escape to Uttar Pradesh in a truck amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown for 21 days imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, police said.
The truck driver had told the police that he was carrying vegetables in the vehicle, an official said.
“The 40 migrant labourers work in Mumbai. Due to the coronavirus scare, they were trying to go to their native places in Uttar Pradesh in a truck. They had reached Nashik, where the police caught them and asked them to return to Mumbai in the same vehicle,” inspector (crime) D Gawde of Kopri Police Station said.
“Scared of the action, the driver started driving back to Mumbai. When the truck reached Anand Nagar check-post in Thane, the police checked the vehicle and found the labourers travelling in it,” he added.
When asked why they were going to UP, the labourers told the police that they were concerned about the spread of coronavirus in Mumbai and hence wanted to return to their native places, Gawde added.
They have been booked under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a complete lockdown across the country from Tuesday, 24 March, midnight, asserting that it was necessary for a decisive battle against the coronavirus outbreak.
(Inputs: PTI)
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