Delhi Police registers FIR against 44 DTC bus drivers for carrying migrants amid lockdown

Amid the lockdown when the transport of only essential commodities and services is permitted, the Delhi Police caught about 44 Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), bus drivers, on March 29 for carrying migrant workers on buses meant for essential services. An FIR has been registered against the 44 bus drivers. 

According to the FIR, 44 DTC buses and cluster buses carrying migrants with a sticker of the "Essential Services" were stopped by police on Vikas Marg. The passengers told the police that they were going to their native place UP and Bihar and they will board further buses from ISBT Anand Vihar, the FIR read.

"An FIR has been registered against 44 DTC bus drivers for carrying migrant workers on March 29," it further read.

"When the DTC bus drivers were asked why are they carrying passengers without issuing a ticket to them, they said, there are orders from higher authorities," the FIR said.

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Migrants defying lockdown

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed lockdown in the wake of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic, tens of thousands of migrant labourers from the national capital defying the lockdown protocol, set their journey on foot towards their native places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand among other states.

In a bid to accommodate the migrant workers, the Delhi government on Monday converted 11 schools into night shelters amid the national lockdown due to the Coronavirus crisis. According to an official release by the Delhi government, since a large number of migrant workers have started leaving the national capital towards their homes on foot, the initiative has been taken in order to provide them with food and shelter. 

It further stated that the rooms have been properly disinfected and cleaned. "The heads of schools are taking rounds of their individual schools as guards have been deployed too," it said. As per reports, currently, there are around 238-night shelters in the national capital excluding the classrooms.

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(Image - PTI)