Migrant workers caned in Guntur after rushing out of relief camp in bid to return home

VIJAYAWADA: A group of migrant workers returning to their home states on bicycles and on foot were caned by police when they tried to cross the inter-district borders of Guntur and Krishna on Saturday. The migrants, numbering around 600, rushed out of the relief camp set up at Tadepalli in Guntur district and tried to proceed along the highway when police resorted to a lathicharge on them.

The migrants were part of a group spotted walking on the highway on Friday night by AP State Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney and were assured that transport would be arranged for them to reach their native places. The migrants, who were heading to Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and other states, were shifted to Vijayawada Club relief camp last night.

After having their breakfast provided by the district administration on Saturday morning, nearly 600 of them came out of the relief camp on their bicycles or on foot even as revenue officials tried to convince them that trains and vehicles are being arranged to shift them to their home towns.

Police claimed that as their requests went unheeded, they had to use mild force on the migrants and make them return back to the relief camp. A few migrants suffered injuries in the lathicharge.

"They rushed out of the relief camps and when police tried to stop them, they started beating the police vehicles and tried to go towards Vijayawada in neighbouring Krishna district. We tried to convince them but they did not heed our requests and proceeded further," Tadepalli circle inspector Mallikarjuna Rao said.

"Four trains are proceeding to Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and other places tonight and the migrants in the camp will be accommodated in them. Revenue officials have already started the registration and medical check-ups are being done simultaneously for them," the inspector said.

All these migrants will reach their home states in the next 24 hours, police and revenue officials said.