Trapped, migrants and students set sail, hide in milk vans to avoid Andhra, Telangana check points

U Sudhakar Reddy | TNN | Apr 21, 2020, 06:37 IST

Cops intercept a boat on Krishna ferrying people to AP

HYDERABAD: Desperate as they are during the ongoing lockdown, migrant workers, hostellers and students are trying out new modes of transport to cross the state borders. After trying their luck with cargo vans and container trucks, they are now going for boats and milk vans to cross into the other side.
On Sunday, Guntur rural police were in for a shock after detaining three students during an inspection at Pondugula inter-state checkpost. The students were found hiding in a milk van. They were planning to go to Singarayakonda in Prakasam district of AP from Miryalaguda in Telangana.
Not just this, some of them are ready to shell out Rs 1,000 (per head) to boat operators to cross over to AP. Nalgonda district superintendent of police AV Ranganath said they were startled to hear this from migrant workers themselves. “We stopped 191 migrant workers and others when they tried to cross Krishna river at Wadapally close to Guntur district in violation of the lockdown orders. Boat owners and operators were collecting Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per head and transporting those who wanted to move from Telangana to AP,” he told TOI.
As the Krishna divides Nalgonda and Suryapet districts in Telangana from Guntur and Krishna districts of AP, the workers and students are using the boat route following increased vigil on the highways, police said.
Many tried to cross railway bridges
Several of them tried to cross railway bridges by walking on tracks but were stopped.
Nalgonda police stopped 200 migrant workers at Kethepally toll plaza on Monday and booked cases against them under IPC Section 188. Police said they had set out from Jeedimetla on Saturday. “The boat owners have been bound over under Section 107 of CrPC,” Ranganath said.
Police said three students were caught. “They paid money to milk van driver and hid in tank. They crossed the border and entered Guntur. We found them during checking,” Guntur rural cops said. The students were sent to quarantine facility.
Meanwhile, Suryapet, Guntur and Krishna district police have also detained several migrant labourers and students while they were trying to cross the borders illegally hiding in cargo vans and container trucks.