Mumbai: Two siblings owning and operating a truck service were on Sunday booked for allegedly ferrying 64 labourers illegally to Uttar Pradesh, Saki Naka police said.
The labourers were found crammed in the truck in the early hours of the day in Powai, an official said.
“Amjad Ali Razzak Shah (32) who was driving the truck and his brother Mohammad Shah who owns the vehicle has been booked. They were charging Rs 2,500 per person to transport them to Uttar Pradesh,” an official said.
Also read: 17 Migrant Workers, Kin Have Died Trying to Return Home Since the Lockdown Started
Zone X Deputy Commissioner of Police Ankit Goel said the labourers were let off while civic authorities were asked to provide them food and other basic amenities.
“We registered a case under section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC. Both have been detained,” he said.
In a similar incident four days ago on March 26, the state police had found over 300 migrant workers crammed inside two container trucks which were ostensibly carrying essential commodities from Telangana to Rajasthan. The shocked officials found that the workers, who hailed from Rajasthan, had chosen this surreptitious and dangerous mode of travel as they wanted to return home.
Reports of desperate migrant workers heading home amid lockdown on account of coronavirus pandemic are emerging from many parts of the country.
Also read: Rajasthan: Migrant Workers Left Hungry, Shunted From Station to Station for Official Transport
A team of police and revenue department officials stopped two container trucks coming from Telangana in the border district of Yavatmal for inspection.
“The officials at Pandharkavda toll booth found something was fishy as the drivers could not give a satisfactory answer as to what the trucks were carrying and where,” said a senior official.
“Inside, they found some 300 daily wagers in two containers. Some of them said they wanted to go back to their home state, Rajasthan and could not find any other mode of transportation,” he said.
Action will be taken against the drivers of the trucks, but officials are at a loss as to how to deal with the hapless workers.
“We do not know what to do with them. They need to go home for survival. We will take some decision soon,” he said.