One Rumour, One Man, One Fake News: 1000s Of Migrant Worker Assemble In Mumbai

A few hours after the PM's third address to the nation where he extended the lockdown till May 3 hundreds of migrant workers gathered at the Bandra station, Mumbai believing rumours that special trains would take them home. The rumour-mongers have now been arrested.

FIR Registered Against Migrant Workers, Fake News Perpetrators

According to a News18 report, an FIR has been registered against at least 1000 migrant workers for assembling near the railway station and defying the rules of the coronavirus lockdown thereby causing a public health scare.

"We have registered an FIR under sections 143 (Whoever is a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (Punishment for rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)," a Bandra police station official said.

He added that section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act has also been invoked against them.

Reportedly, a second FIR was registered against Vinay Dubey, the self-proclaimed labour leader who had allegedly asked migrants to start walking towards their native homes. Dubey had also shared video blogs and social media posts to invite migrants in numbers with social media posts like "Chalo Ghar Ki Ore (let's head home).

Dubey is heard asking the government in a video, to organize a journey home for the migrants, since the lockdown "will be over on April 14". He claims he has arranged 40 buses and needs permission to operate them.

"I request that after the lockdown gets over on April 14, the state government arrange trains to UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal. They can be quarantined once they get there... They are desperate here, they will die of hunger, if not from coronavirus...We will wait till 14th or 15th if the government does not do anything, I, Vinay Dubey, will start the journey with those migrants on foot," Dubey can be heard saying.

Dubey had further warned the government of possible protests if trains services are not provided to migrants hailing from areas such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal to reach their home.

He has since then been arrested his residence in Surili, Navi Mumbai and then handed over to the Mumbai Police. He is currently in the custody of the Bandra police which produce him in court on April 15.

Another FIR has been registered against ABP correspondent Rahul Kulkarni for claiming that Railways would restart operations. The police suspect the journalist's claim may have prompted the migrants' gathering at Bandra station.

A police official from Mumbai stated that the daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, assembled at Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway station and squatted on the road for nearly two hours from 3 pm.

The Rumour

As migrant workers stuck in Mumbai for the last three weeks started gathering and demanding transport arrangements to go back to their native places, the police reportedly resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

Local MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui and his father and former minister Baba Siddiqui extended support to the cops to clear the area by 6 PM.

Questions were raised on why exactly did the gathering happen all of a sudden at exactly 3 pm.

Apparently, a letter which surfaced online caused the panic. The letter seems to talk about a proposal of Jansadharan Special Trains to take migrants home. The letter is dated April 13 and is signed by 'A Malleswara Rao, the deputy Cheif Commercial Manager (PM)'.

Maharashtra Ministers React

"Migrant workers who gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai may have thought PM Modi had ordered the opening of state borders," Livemint quoted Anil Deshmukh, Maharashtra's home minister, as saying.

"The current situation at Bandra station, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the Union government 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," tweeted Aaditya Thackeray, a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government.

According to Thackeray, the Maharashtra government had been requesting the Centre to run trains for 24 hours so that the daily wage earners and migrant labourers could return home.

"Centre has taken immediate cognizance of the issue and is assisting the state actively. We understand the catch 22 situation Centre and states face. I'm thankful to PM & HM for understanding the situation while trying to ensure the safety of home states of migrants," he added in another tweet.

Railways Issues Clarification

The Ministry of Railways said late on April 14 that there is no plan to run special trains to clear the rush of passengers.

The ministry's clarification was issued after a report by ABP News on April 14 claimed that the Centre had decided to run special trains for stranded migrants.

South Central Railway also tweeted a clarification confirming that the letter was meant for internal communication. North Central Railway issued a similar clarification.

Also Read: Man Walks 1600 Kms From Mumbai To Varanasi, Family Members Restricts Entry In House