Internal comm misinterpreted: Railways clarifies on 'migrant train' after Bandra incident

The South Central Railways issued a clarification following the alarming lockdown violation in Mumbai's Bandra on Tuesday and categorically stated that the communication between departments had been misinterpreted and that all passenger train operations will remain suspended until May 3. 

Following PM Modi's announcement to extend the lockdown till May 3, over 2000 migrant workers, who were stuck in the city due to the lockdown, flouted the norms of social distancing and lockdown to gather at the Bandra station and demanded arrangement of transport in order for them to return home. As per reports some also said that they had received a call about transport facilities being arranged to take them back home. Some also said that the local administration had arranged ration for the 'migrant workers'. The crowd was dispersed only after Police resorted to lathi-charge. After vacating, the area was sanitised. 

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SCR issues clarification

Issuing a clarification on Wednesday, South Central Railway categorically stated that communication-related to the internal planning of the SCR to assess train demand was misinterpreted as a decision to run special trains for migrant labourers. Further, SCR reiterated that passenger service across the country will remain suspended until May 3. 

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AAP's Sanjay Singh questions SCR

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh alleged that an order issued by a South Central Railways official, dated 13 April, had mentioned that passenger trains would operate. Taking to Twitter, the AAP leader posted a picture of the order, which the SCR later clarified as a matter of its internal communication that had been misinterpreted.  Sanjay Singh pressed for further probe into this matter, questioning if this was a government order or an order issued by the railway official. 

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The Bandra incident

On Tuesday, thousands gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai. This was in total violation of the social distancing norms to be observed during the nationwide lockdown. A few minutes later, the police personnel were seen dispersing the crowd. According to former AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan, this was 'a protest by the migrant workers' against the extension of the nationwide lockdown, demanding permission to go back to their home state. However, as per sources, people crowded the spot because the distribution of food was poorly organised, and because rumours had been spread of a transport to ferry them back to their home states. 

In the latest development, Vinay Dubey, a man who had allegedly incited the migrant agitation against the Coronavirus lockdown in Mumbai has been arrested by the Mumbai Police. Vinay Dubey was detained by the Mumbai Police after a Facebook post was found wherein Dubey had issued an open call to migrants to agitate against the Government. He has now been arrested and booked under Sections 117, 153 A, 188, 269, 270 and 505 (2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 of The Epidemic Diseases Act and would be produced before a local court later today.

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