Coronavirus lockdown: A crowd of thousands gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai after a rumour broke out that long-distance trains were running. The crowd gathered at Bandra West. Another rumour of free ration being distributed made matter worse for the police. Majority of the crowd consisted of migrant workers who were keen to return to their villages.
Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddiqui told India TV that everyone was appealing people to return and that crowd had dispersed almost completely.
The situation was tense for almost two and a half hours as people sat at Bandra bus depot that is located close to Bandra Railway Station. Mumbai Police had to resort to lathi-charge in order to disperse the crowd.
Bandra West MLA Ashish Shelar told India TV that it was necessary to find out how such a crowd was allowed to gather but added that right now, it was necessary to maintain calm.
Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray blamed the situation on the Centre government alleging that it was not able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labourers
"The current situation at Bandra Station, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the Union government not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labour. They don't want food or shelter, they want to go back home," he said in a tweet. He also called upon the government to bring in a mutual road map to help migrant labour reach home from one state to another safely and efficiently.
Meanwhile, Navi Mumbai Police has detained a man named Vinay Dube who is believed to be behind the rumour of resumption of railway services.
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