Migrant workers from UP, Bihar protest in Bengaluru amid coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown, block Tumakuru highway

Thousands of migrant workers mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar protested near a big international exhibition pavilion in Bengaluru, demanding a ride home amid the extended lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bengaluru: Thousands of migrant workers mostly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar protested near a big international exhibition centre in Bengaluru, demanding the authorities to send them back home in their native states amid the extended lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The migrants marched towards the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) and also blocked the Bengaluru-Tumakuru highway for some time.

It was reopened again after Revenue Minister R Ashok and Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao reached the spot and assured the protesters that they will be sent home as soon as possible.

The migrant workers had gone to Freedom Park on Monday morning to catch transport for their states. Later, the municipal agency BBMP took them near BIEC and made arrangements there for their stay.

Then they started protesting in the evening. A policeman was reportedly injured in the incident. The Karnataka government has already sent thousands of workers to their homes across the state in government-run buses.

Special trains are being run in several states such as Kerala and Rajasthan to send back migrant workers to their home states. Last week, the central government allowed the transfer of migrants using buses and trains after 36 days of intense criticism and pushback.

Thousands of migrant workers and others, stranded after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on March 25, had been desperate to go home for weeks.