JOIN USCOVID-19 lockdown: Violence ensues after UP seals borders, migrant workers break barricades
As the Uttar Pradesh government sealed its borders, thousands of migrant workers, who were stuck at the state's borders with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, on Sunday indulged in violence and broke barricades at many places prompting the police to make lathi charge.
The workers also blocked the highways at many places by squatting on them and burning tyres and damaged vehicles, according to reports.
Sources said that the migrant workers demolished the barrier erected at UP-MP border at Reewan district and forcibly entered the state as the police watched helplessly.
Hundreds of vehicles carrying migrant workers got stuck at UP-MP border at Ruxa in Jhansi district after the state police denied entry to the workers.
While the police said that the workers would be sent by buses to their respective towns, the latter insisted on travelling by their own vehicles, sources said.
Restless migrant workers indulged in stone-pelting and damaged several vehicles on the UP-Haryana border in Saharanpur district after the police refused to allow them to enter the state.
The state government's directive, that came after Saturday's mishap at Auraiya, where 26 workers travelling in a truck were killed in a collision between two trucks, banned migrant workers from walking or travelling in any other vehicle except in the buses arranged by the government.
The opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) slammed the state government for using force against the workers and demanded that they be allowed to travel to their native towns and villages in Bihar, UP, Jharkhand and West Bengal.