"With the lockdown in place there is no job, no shelter and no food... there is no point in staying here and starving to death," a migrant labourer told a Crime Branch officer, who spotted hundreds of daily wagers heading home on foot to Rajasthan, UP, MP and Bihar, on Thursday evening. "One of the workers told me they had no income after the lockdown since there are no jobs, and their children were starving for days with no help from anyone, so they decided to leave the city," the officer said.

Assistant Police Inspector (API) Bhimsen Gaikwad of the Boisar Crime Branch told mid-day that the migrant labourers said they decided to walk hundreds of kilometres after losing hope of any help during their struggle to keep themselves and their families fed.