Truck ferrying 68 from Madhya Pradesh intercepted in Bathinda

TNN | Apr 27, 2020, 06:31 IST

One of the workers said they had paid Rs 2,500 each to the truck driver

BATHINDA: Bathinda police on Sunday intercepted a truck carrying 68 persons, who were coming from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, to drop them off in various districts of Punjab.
Those travelling in the truck were combine harvester operators and helpers stuck there for over a month due to nationwide lockdown.
The driver has been arrested for violating the lockdown whereas those travelling in the truck have been sent to their home districts of Moga, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Tarn Taran in Punjab.
How truck covered 600 km despite lockdown, police to probe
Police came to know about the truck from some locals who saw the driver and his passengers fighting and intervened. Apparently, there was an altercation after the truck driver tried to drop some persons from Ludhiana on the outskirts of Bathinda on the Bathinda-Goniana road.
One of the migrant workers told police that they had paid Rs 2,500 each to the truck driver, “We all work on combine harvesters and were stuck in MP. So, we together hired the truck to reach our places. The driver said he had the requisite pass to take them toPunjab and nobody stopped us on the way. However, once in Bathinda, the driver asked some persons to alight even though he had promised to drop everyone in their respective districts.”
Bathinda deputy commissioner B Srinivasan said they arranged vehicles to send the travellers to their respective districts, so that they could be sent in quarantine there.
SSP Nanak Singh said, “A case under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC and under provisions of the Disaster Management Act has been registered against the driver and owner of the truck. The driver has been taken into custody.”
Police are also investigating how the truck carrying such a large number of people managed to reach Bathinda, nearly 600km from Gwalior, without being stopped on the way.