BHOPAL: Three elderly migrant labourers, who returned from Jaisalmer on Tuesday, were crushed to death in their sleep by a truck, barely a kilometre from their village in Ujjain district of Madhya Pradesh in the wee hours on Wednesday.
The shocking incident happened at around 4 am in Bherugarh area of Ujjain district, when the group of labourers, who returned from Jaisalmer on Tuesday morning, were sleeping on the roadside near a temple. The driver of a truck coming from Indore lost control of the vehicle and mowed down the three labourers.
The deceased were identified as Vikram Singh (65), his wife Bhooli (60) and Badrilal Banjara – all hailing from Mohanpura village.
The three were part of the group of migrant workers who were stuck for several weeks in Jaisalmer due to the ongoing lockdown and were brought back to Ujjain from Rajasthan only on Tuesday following efforts by the MP government.
As per unconfirmed reports, the three labourers after arriving in Ujjain district on Tuesday had gone to their village Mohanpura, but the villagers stopped them from entering, asking them to first get a COVID-19 check-up done at the hospital in Ujjain city.
The hapless labourers had to return to Ujjain and were returning with other migrant labourers after giving their samples and details at the hospital. They were travelling on foot back to their village on Tuesday night, but as they were tired, they slept on the roadside with other labourers near the temple, close to their village.
According to Ujjain district superintendent of police Sachin Atulkar, the truck which fatally ran over the three labourers has been impounded but the driver managed to escape.
When asked by The New Indian Express about the migrant labourers being prevented from entering their native village by locals earlier, the Ujjain SP said, “We don’t have any such information, it first needs to be verified. All the labourers who have been brought back from other states are being medically screened when they disembark from the buses.”