Bihar: Congress leader Ranjeet Ranjan slams government over FIR against migrants

Senior Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Ranjeet Ranjan criticised the Bihar government over FIRs against nine migrants who complained of poor facilities at a quarantine centre at Madhepura, adding that such centres in the state are "worse than hell".

"In times of COVID-19, poor and migrants realised that they have no rights in their own country. Quarantine centres in Bihar are worse than hell. When migrants are asking for their rights, you are lodging a case against them. What kind of justice is this?" Ranjan said.

The Congress leader added that there are several quarantine centres in the state that lack basic facilities, including those at Madhubani, Supaul, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Madhepura.

READ | Delhi Farmer Sponsors Plane Tickets For Migrant Labourers To Return Back Home In Bihar

At least nine migrant labourers, who peddled, hitchhiked and walked from as far as Punjab to reach their home state during the lockdown, have been arrested for complaining about facilities at a quarantine centre in Madhepura.

The migrants were booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on May 20 for allegedly switching their quarantine centre at Ramnagar Mahesh village under Madhepura's Kumarkhand block "without consent of the local authorities".

READ | NHRC Moved Against Railways, Bihar Govt Over Heartbreaking Clip Of Child & Deceased Mother

Migrants test positive for COVID-19 in Bihar

The coronavirus tally rose to 3,036 in Bihar after 68 more people tested positive on Wednesday. Migrants continued to comprise a very high percentage of those testing positive for coronavirus, the number of people coming from outside Bihar and found infected since May 3 being 2,072, according to the department.

Bihar's overall tally has grown by around 2,500. The infected migrants happen to be returnees from 21 states across the country, though most have come from Maharashtra (486), Delhi (462), Gujarat (301), Haryana (187), Uttar Pradesh (108), Rajasthan (107), Telangana (96), West Bengal (88) and Punjab (63).

READ | Giving Up Hope Of Boarding Shramik Train, 11 Migrants Reach Bihar From Gurgaon On Cycle Rickshaw

READ | Bihar CM Urges Migrants To Stay Back In State; Directs Officials To Create Job Opportunity

(With inputs from ANI)