COVID-19 Lockdown: Tempo driver held for ferrying migrant workers

A 27-year-old tempo driver was arrested on Sunday for trying to ferry 17 migrant labourers from Andheri in Mumbai to Nalasopara in Palghar district amid the ongoing lockdown, police said.

The incident occurred in the evening, police said.

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The arrested driver, identified as Ajay Kumar Teehuri, was later released on bail.

"All the labourers were currently residing in Sakinaka, Marol and Powai. Due to the lockdown, they have become jobless. They paid Rs 2,000 to the tempo driver and asked him to drop them at Nalasopara, from where they planned to reach their native places in Uttar Pradesh," senior inspector of Andheri police station, Vijay Bedge, said.

However, while going to Nalasopara, the vehicle was caught on Western Express Highway by the police, he said.

The 17 labourers were asked to return to their homes and the civic authorities were requested to provide essentials goods to them considering the lockdown, he said.

"We have arrested the accused driver under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life)," he said.