Migrant Workers Hide in Milk Tanker to Get to Rajasthan, Booked

They were detained and booked under IPC Section 188, police said.

Ten migrant labourers were on Saturday found travelling to Rajasthan from Thane district in Maharashtra by hiding inside an empty milk tanker amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown owing to the coronavirus outbreak, police said.

All the 10 people, including some women, were detained by the police at Talasari in Palghar district, located along the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, an official said.

“Ten people, including some women, hid themselves inside the milk tanker. They started their journey from Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district and wanted to go to their home state of Rajasthan. They chose this method as regular transport vehicles are currently not available due to the lockdown.”

Hemant Katkar, spokesperson of Palghar police

“When the vehicle reached Talasari check-post, the police sensed something amiss and checked the tanker. During the search, they found the ten people hiding inside”, he added.

All 10 of them are labourers from Rajasthan working in and around Mumbai, Katkar said.

“They have been detained and booked under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant)“, he added.

On Friday, the Thane city police had caught 40 migrant labourers when they were heading to Uttar Pradesh in a truck. They had been booked by the police.