Migrant workers clash with cops in Surat; stones pelted, tear gas fired

Surat, May 04: A large number of migrant labourers, who have been demanding that they be sent home clashed with the police in Gujarat's Surat on Monday.

This was the fourth instance of protest by migrants in Surat, where a huge number of labourers come from other states to work in the diamond and textile industries.

The migrants clashed with police and damaged several vehicles on Surat streets. Police used teargas shelling to disperse the migrant workers.

The incident took place near Vareli village on the outskirts of Surat while the migrant workers were demanding that arrangements be made to send them back to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

The labourers also damaged some vehicles parked on Surat-Kadodara road, the official said.

They clashed with police and threw stones at them, following which the security personnel retaliated and lobbed teargas shells and lathi-charged the agitated workers, the official said.

The situation was later brought under control and security was stepped up in the area, he added.

Last week, hundreds of migrant workers had come out on roads and vandalised the office of an under-construction building and vehicles in Surat district.