Touts sending Mumbai residents on vacation instead of genuine migrants

DURING their struggle to send lakhs of dailywagers home police have come across a group of people taking advantage of the labourers distressing situation A man from Sakinaka with the help of insiders from the labour community has been making money by sending his acquaintances who pretend to be migrants to their hometowns for vacationsTHE Sakinaka police have arrested one Madanlal Yadav who lives in Kajupada at Sakinaka Andheri East and has a furniture business and are looking for his absconding accomplice Panas Yadav Police busted the racket involving the group leaders assigned for the area after conducting a random check of the people being sent to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh on WednesdayPolice said they will also question the group leaders in charge of verifying the details of the migrant labourers who had registered to travel via Shramik Special trains and ferrying them to the station on the day of the journeyOn Wednesday Sakinaka police called one of the group leaders but couldnt reach him so they contacted another migrant worker who was on the list to travel and learnt that he had already gone home They then called some of the others on the list and found out that many of them are already in their hometownsCharged Rs 1100 eachThe police officers then went to check the group of 40 people while they were preparing to leave Sakinaka to board the train On cross checking the details with their ID cards the officers found that 18 of them were not migrants Each person was charged Rs 1100 by Madanlal We are also recovering the list of people who have already reached their hometown senior Inspector Kishor Sawant saidCity police send thousands of migrant workers home daily File pic Anurag AhireAnother investigation officer said Madanlal revealed that the group leaders Sakinaka have sent more than 150 people to their villages The accused also sent many nonmigrants people to UP who submitted their ration card or election card as proof We are also checking the listTold to impersonate migrantDuring investigation police found that Madanlal would ask the group leaders to send the names of the workers who had registered to take the train but had later travelled home on their own Madanlal would then contact the Mumbai residents wanting to go to their hometowns for vacation and charge anything between Rs 1100 and Rs 3000 for the train journey He would ask them to impersonate the migrants whose names were on the travel list but were not in the city to take the train70 migrants already goneMany a times we find that some of the registered migrants have left for their hometowns on their own In such a scenario we ask the group leaders to accommodate others who were not listed for that particular day In this particular incident the accused and some group leaders sent their own people after taking money from them a police officer who is part of the investigating team told midday Police said more than 70 per cent of the migrant workers who had registered for the Shramik Special train have already left for their homes via roadMadanlal and Panas were active in Sakinaka as they knew most of the migrants group leaders He would collect from them the details about the registered migrants who had left on their own and use that to send nonmigrants to UP and other places the officer addedResidents apply tooAnother officer pointed out that even though the rules are clear that only the migrant labourers are allowed to take the Shramik Special people settled in the city send application to avail the facility meant for poor labourersWe receive applications from people who have their own flats and cars in Mumbai Migrants are labourers who come here for daytoday jobs Those who own flats here are resident of Mumbai he said He added that it is difficult to vet everyone in a very short span of time when we are sending thousands of migrants home daily Many residents have been applying for seats on Shramik Special as this is the vacation period As May is the month of vacation Mumbaikars go to their hometowns or villages every year and return in June before the schools reopen he saidPolice have arrested Madanlal under Sections 419 cheating by personation 420 cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property and 34 common intent of the IPC and the relevant sections of Epidemic Diseases ActCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news