Mild tension prevailed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalagiri in Guntur district on Friday, as migrant labourers sheltered in the institute resorted to stone pelting, demanding that the authorities make them prompt arrangements for their travel back home. Luckily, nobody was injured in the incident and the violence didn’t escalate further. The incident took place at around 10 am, police said on Friday.
Nearly 1,300 workers hailing from Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states were engaged in construction work at AIIMS site in Mangalagiri. Mangalagiri is part of the Amaravati region, which was being developed as the capital by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government. Owing to the pandemic lockdown, the workers weren’t allowed to leave the premises.
According to the police, on Friday, the workers, who were growing restless, went on a rampage by destroying furniture, windows and vehicles in AIIMS, demanding that the officials acknowledge their plight and send them back home.
These are the scenes from inside AIIMS Mangalagiri after the infuriated migrant labour went on a rampage. #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/4OjaRcIu6K
— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) May 8, 2020
Sensing that the agitation could escalate, armed police personnel were deployed. The workers, who had prevented the entry of the police by blocking the gate, hurled a few stones at them. “We were quite far, so none of us were injured,” said Mangalagiri rural police station Sub-Inspector Seshagiri.
Shortly after, the Mangalagiri Mandal Revenue Officer had a discussion with them and brought the situation under control, the police said.
The police said that they have made arrangements for their travel but when those at the site saw workers from other states leaving, while they are still held up, it made them angry.
“Today, 200 workers left for Bihar on a bus. Every day, we are making arrangements for their travel. It is just that those who are still in the shelter grew impatient. Since they were all young, mostly aged between 18-22, they resorted to vandalism,” SI Seshagiri said.
“The workers are scared about coronavirus and also longing to go home. So they are restless. They hurled a couple of stones at us, but since we were far from the gate, no police personnel were injured,” the SI added.