Among many reports of migrants slowly losing their patience and attacking officials, comes another one from Rajkot. It is reported that on May 17 Sunday, several hundred migrants gathered on the grounds of Fieldmarshal School, a designated pickup point, and were ready to finally depart to their homes. Upon hearing the news of the cancellation of 3 Shramik Special Trains bound for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh they were waiting to board, some migrants got furious and resorted to attacking the officials present at the spot. The incident took place in the Shapar- Veraval area in the outskirts of the city of Rajkot in Gujarat.
As per Rajkot DIG, more than 4800 workers were registered to board the trains. DIG Sandeep Singh clarified that the trains were merely rescheduled but some workers, many of them unregistered started to pelt stones all around and also took to vandalising private vehicles parked in the area. Among injured included 3 police officials including Superintendent of Police Rural, Balram Meena, and a journalist. The 3 policemen are reported to have suffered serious injuries. The journalist was beaten and his camera was snatched away from him.
Cases were filed against 25 people and a mob of about 150 for attempting to murder, rioting, robbery, attacking police and vandalising private property. Director-General of Police of Gujarat, Shivanand Jha accepted that violence took place in light of the cancellation of a train and urged migrant workers to be patient and cooperative with the authorities. As of the latest, 29 migrants have been arrested for indulging in the violence, many of them picked up from trains carrying migrant workers.
Image credit: TOI
[zombify_post]
