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Bengaluru, May 7: Fear and anxiety gripped migrant workers who lined up at police stations in the city on Wednesday to register for train services without knowing that the state government had cancelled the train facility.

Senior officials in South Western Railway said they were ready to run special trains for migrant workers. On Tuesday evening, the state government decided to withdraw the requests made for 13 such trains to north India after realtors said they need the labourers here.

Migrants continued to stream into the railway station at Majestic, Bangalore International Exhibition Centre and even the bus station hoping for some travel arrangement. Many who were aware of the government web portal, stood in front of the BBMP ward office or police stations for enrolment.

In Varthur, over 100 migrants stood in front of the police station and sought to know what happened to the forms they had submitted four days ago. "We first went to the BBMP office and were shooed away by an official who directed us to go to the police station. We want to go home and demanded that the police help us. There was no response first. Then they came out and beat us," said Pintu Kumar from Mohanpur of Bhagalpur district in Bihar.

Though a video clip accidentally shot by Kumar showed two police personnel charging the cane at them, a police officer from the Varthur station, however, disputed the claim. "The video doesn’t show the cane landing on any person. We were beating the seat and tyre of two-wheelers to send the migrants away," he said.

At Mahadevapura, the workers came in groups and submitted the forms at the police station.

At the railway station in Majestic, a group of labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand had walked from several areas in south Bengaluru only to be told that there is no train. Mahendra, a labourer from Jharkhand, said they received 5 kg rice and nothing else in the last 45 days. "Now, I don’t want food. I don’t want the job or money. I can't get stuck here. I want to go home,” he said.

'Restore dignity'

Activists and leaders wrote an open letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa questioning the decision to cancel trains without consulting labourers and protesting the violation of their fundamental rights.

The letter had support of 522 organisations and individuals, including Dalit rights organisations and trade unions. It urged the government to restore the dignity of the migrant workers. "We demand recognition of the autonomy and dignity of the migrant workers to decide their travel plans. No one should be forced either to stay back or to return to their home states," it said.

Mangaluru, Jul 19: In the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown imposed till July 23, streets in the Dakshina Kannada district here bore a deserted look today (Sunday) morning.

The state government had allowed relaxation hours between 8 am to 11 am in the week-long total shutdown. However today there was no relaxation. 

All shops including those selling essential commodities were also seen closed in the district today. Besides, barricades were also seen stationed at different junctures on the road.

As per Karnataka's COVID-19 information portal, a total of 59,652 coronavirus cases have been reported in the state, including 36,631 active cases and 21,775 recoveries. So far, 1,240 people have died due to the infection in the state. 

Dakshina Kannada so far recorded 3,311 covid-19 positive cases and 75 deaths.

Brahmavar, Jul 3: Two friends drowned accidentally in a rivulet while catching fish near Barkur in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district today.  

The deceased have been identified as Karthik (20), a final year B.Com student, and Harsha (26), who was working as a recovery agent for a local finance company. Both were local residents. 

The incident took place around 8 a.m. when they were trying to catch fish. Even though a few locals were there on the spot they could not save the duo as the water level has increased in the rivulet due to rains. After an hour the bodies were fished out. 

A case was registered at Brahmavar police station and investigations are on.