An employer shot at a migrant labourer using an air gun in Aluva, Ernakulam on Sunday night.
The victim, identified as Manuar Sheikh from West Bengal, is undergoing treatment in hospital after he was hit in his backside.
Sheikh works in a construction site along with a few other migrant labourers in Aluva. As per reports, the accused Ajay Nair shot at him without any provocation.
As the gunshot was from close range, Sheikh sustained a severe injury. He was shifted to a nearby hospital and the pellet was removed.
“The accused has been taken into custody. We are questioning him. The exact reason was not yet identified, may be some issues with the labourers. The gun has been seized,” Aluva SI Honey K Das told The News Minute.
“An FIR has been registered under Arms Act and IPC 308, attempt to murder,” he added.
The SI said that air gun pellets are dangerous if they hit the vital organs. “If it was shot at the chest or head, the victim could have died. So the case obviously comes under attempt to murder,” he said.
The police officer said that the accused had been warned earlier for threatening some others using an air gun in Aluva.
“Keralites are very eager to raise voice for their rights. But when it comes to migrant labourers, they are not different from others. Labour department officials and the government should take stern action to nip the incidents of physical harassment in the bud as Kerala economy cannot survive without migrant workers,” Dr D Narayana, director of Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), who had done a study on migrant labourers of Kerala, told The Times of India.