KOCHI: After Payippad, it was Perumbavoor’s turn to witness protests by migrant workers. Flouting the lockdown restrictions, nearly 500 migrant workers living at Bengal Colony near Perumbavoor here staged a protest at 2pm on Monday demanding transportation to their native villages. Close to 3,000 migrant workers stay in the labour camps at Bengal Colony.
Though some of them complained against the food served through the community kitchen, police officials said their main intention was to demand transportation to their native place. “Initially, we thought they were complaining about the food. Soon, we found out that their main demand was transportation. It is clear people with vested interests were behind this. They wanted to create unrest like at Payippad,” said District Police Chief (Rural) K Karthik, who along with Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar and District Collector S Suhas, visited the area on Monday.
He said some people were riling up the guest workers by sending fake WhatsApp messages. “We have started an investigation. Action will be initiated against anyone who is misguiding the migrant workers,” Karthik said. He said over 100 police officers have been deployed in the area. Suhas said sufficient food will be served to the workers.
“We started an exclusive kitchen for migrant workers at Perumbavoor to prepare food,” he said. After the Payippad incident, the district administration and police were on high alert as Perumbavoor houses over 50,000 migrant workers. Police said they have received information regarding the Payippad incident which was allegedly triggered by some political outfits.
Stir at Payippad: Case against 2,000 people
Kottayam: A day after migrant workers took to the streets at Payippad violating lockdown restrictions on Sunday, District Collector P K Sudheer Babu declared curfew invoking Section 144 of CrPC. The police also took one migrant worker into custody on Monday and registered cases against 2,000 persons. West Bengal native Muhammed Riju is the arrested. The police also reportedly seized 20 mobile phones, suspecting intervention of ‘external forces’.
The migrant workers had protested demanding transportation facilities to return to their native places. District Police Chief G Jaidev told reporters that primafacie proof revealed ‘external intervention’ in the protest. “We have booked 2,000 persons for unlawful assembly. An organised attempt was evident in the stir,” he said. In view of the protest, the Labour and Skills Department has opened call centres to help migrant workers resolve their issues with regard to the lockdown. The state-level call centre functions in Thiruvananthapuram. The service is also available in all district labour offices.