In a video that is being circulated on social media, a police official in Bengaluru can be seen slapping and kicking a few migrant workers, who were asking him for details about registering for interstate travel by train.
The official, Rajasab, who is an assistant sub-inspector from KG Halli Police Station, was suspended after the video of the incident started circulating. The incident took place on Monday in front of the police station.
"We inquired into the incident and the police official has been suspended. We have zero tolerance for such incidents. We have been asking police officials to be patient while interacting with workers who are turning up at police stations," SD Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru (East), told TNM.
The incident comes days after videos showed police officials dispersing migrant workers who turned up at Varthur Police Station aggressively by using lathis.
Migrant workers have been turning up in police stations across the city in the hope of finding out about the travel arrangements to go to their home states. The Karnataka government reversed its earlier decision and restarted train services for migrant workers on Thursday.
However, while over one lakh workers have registered to return home, only a few trains with about 1,200 workers on board have been leaving Bengaluru every day. On Monday, officials revised the number of workers on board each train to 1,500.
Hundreds of workers are also walking along the national highway 44 (NH 44) from Bengaluru. Most of the workers travelling on foot are from states like Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. They say that they are planning to walk and hitch rides on goods trucks heading in their direction to return home.