Migrants hurl stones at police in Ahmedabad; 100 detained

Nearly 100 migrant workers gathered on a busy road connecting IIM Ahmedabad with Vastrapur area here on Monday and hurled stones at police and vehicles passing by while demanding that they be sent back to their native places immediately, officials said.

Police later lobbed teargas shells to disperse the rioters and detained nearly 100 suspects, they said.

On getting information about the incident, a large police force, including senior officers, rushed to the spot to control the situation.

Local residents living near a labour colony in the area claimed migrant workers suddenly came on the road demanding they be allowed to go back to their native places in the wake of the lockdown.

Joint Commissioner of Police Amit Vishwakarma said migrant workers from different states have been asking local authorities since many days that they should be sent back to their native places at the earliest.

"Around 400 to 500 migrant workers live at the labour colony and work at a nearby construction site. They are demanding since long that they be sent back. When some of them gathered on road on Monday over the same demand, local police asked them to go back and have patience," he said.

"We told them that the administration is also working hard to resolve the issue. However, they suddenly got angry and engaged in stone-pelting. It was a sudden outburst...not directed at police," he said.

Nearly 100 suspects were detained after the incident, he said.

Following indiscriminate stone-pelting by the migrant workers, city police conducted a combing operation at a labour colony near the GMDC ground and detained some 100 people, Vastrapur police inspector M M Jadeja said.

"The situation has been brought under control. Two teargas shells were also lobbed to disperse the mob," he said.