1 lakh migrants sent home, 4 lakh on waiting list: Mumbai Police

Around 1 lakh migrants who had registered with the Mumbai Police have been sent back home while as many as 4 lakh of them are still awaiting their turn. Pranaya

Around 1 lakh migrants who had registered with the Mumbai Police have been sent back home while as many as 4 lakh of them are still awaiting their turn. Pranaya Ashok, DCP (ops) and spokesperson for Mumbai Police, confirmed the development and added that most of these people are migrant labourers.

HT Image

Some migrants, however, have set out for their hometowns on foot or by private vehicles such as trucks and tempos, which is in violation of lockdown norms, as it is taking time for the government to make arrangements. “We are trying our best to send them back as soon as possible. We request them to wait till their turn comes,” said Ashok.

There have been multiple instances of migrants crowding near police stations or railway stations hoping to leave the city, following which police had to resort to mild lathi-charge go disperse them.

14,000 migrants in eight trains left for UP, Bihar

Since May 12 till Friday, a total of 14,000 migrants from zone 12 (Goregaon East to Dahisar East) of the Mumbai Police were sent back to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in eight trains. About 90% of them were from UP, said a police officer.

13K migrants sent in nine trains from western suburbs

About 13,500 migrants from western suburbs (Bandra to Jogeshwari and Sakinaka) left in nine special trains on Friday. Manjunath Singe, DCP zone 8, said three of the trains departed from Bandra Terminus station.

Abhishek Trimukhe DCP zone 9 said, “From my zone, about 4,500 people including kids were sent back in three trains for Unnao, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.”

Ankit Goyal, DCP zone 10, said, “On Friday, we sent 3,600 migrants to Basti and Banaras in three special trains from LTT station. Since the special train service started, we have sent around 15,000 migrants in 12 special trains.”

508 positive cases in Mumbai Police

A total of 508 Mumbai Police personnel tested positive for Covid-19 till Friday whereas the number of cases in Maharashtra Police went up to 1,061. Of the patients, 174 personnel have recovered while 878 are being treated. A total of nine personnel have died including six from Mumbai, and one each from Pune, Solapur and Nashik rural.

Two additional CP went on leave

As the Mumbai Police are reeling under stress due to heavy workload to fight Covid-19 pandemic, two additional commissioners of police from western and central regions Manoj Kumar Sharma and S Veeresh Prabhu, respectively, went on leave on Thursday for health reasons.

A senior officer on condition of anonymity said, Sharma has quarantined himself after his reader’s report came positive for Covid-19.

Mumbai Police spokesperson and DCP (ops) Pranay Ashok said, “S Veeresh Prabhu’s test was conducted on Thursday and his report is negative. He has viral fever and is taking rest at home, so the charge has given to additional commissioner of police Dnyaneshwar Chavan.”

“There is a lot of workload so they required rest for some days. So following rotation, both the officers are on leave” said Ashok.

59 FIRs against 168 violators on Thursday

The Mumbai Police on Thursday lodged 59 FIRs against 168 people and arrested 105 of them for lockdown violations. Of these, 24 FIRs were for gathering in one place, 13 for unnecessary use of vehicles, 10 for not wearing masks and remaining against shops for operating despite being non-essential services. A majority of FIRs were in west region with 21 cases, while south region reported 15 cases and central 11 cases.

384 Covid-19 related cybercrimes

“The Maharashtra Police registered 384 cases including 16 non-cognisable complaints for Covid-19 related hate speech, fake news and other cybercrimes till Friday. A majority of these crimes are committed through WhatsApp and Facebook,” said Balsing Rajput, SP, Maharashtra Cyber.

(Inputs from Suraj Ojha and Manish K Pathak)