COVID-19 Lockdown: Migrant workers clash with police in Gujarat’s Surat

Agitated migrant workers hit the street and clashed with the police at Mora village in Gujarat’s Surat district. The incident took place on Saturday, May 9. Hundreds of the workers clashed with police and pelted stones at vehicles of police personnel during the violent protest. They were demanding passage to return home.

Another incident of police-migrants clash when hundreds of migrants in Mora village near Surat’s main industrial zone Hazira gathered demanding that they be allowed to go back immediately. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the mob. @the_hindu. pic.twitter.com/Ib18IB3L63

— Mahesh Langa (@LangaMahesh) May 9, 2020

The incident took place in Mora village near the industrial town of Hazira. The protesting workers demanded that the district administration arranges for their travel back to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, among others. Most of these labourers worked in industrial units at Hazira and lived in Mora village. The police had to use tear gas to disperse the group.

The police have cordoned off the area and tightened security there. More than 50 workers were detained for violating lockdown norms, assaulting police personnel, and disturbing law and order situation in the city. State Reserve Police has been deployed in the area to monitor the situation.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 7,403. The death toll reached 449 on Friday. Of the total coronavirus cases in the State, 5,260 have been reported from Ahmedabad district alone.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stand at 59,662. The death toll from the outbreak in India is at 1,981.

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