By IANS,
Patna : The Bihar government Saturday decided to send its officials to Ludhiana after hundreds of migrant workers went on the rampage in the Punjab city, burning vehicles and blocking roads and railway tracks to protest police inaction against a biker gang.
Home Secretary Amir Subhani said, “A team of two government officials will leave for Ludhiana to meet migrant workers to know their problems.” In the past few months, some migrant workers in Ludhiana have been targeted by a biker gang.
Subhani told IANS over telephone that the Bihar government was serious about the security of the migrant workers.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has assured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that he will take all steps to contain the ire of the Bihari migrants. The Bihar government has now directed the chief secretary and state police chief to remain in touch with their Punjab counterparts.
Curfew was imposed Friday in five areas of Ludhiana – Division Nos. 6 and 7, Simlapuri, Focal Point and Sahnewal – following the violence that began Thursday night. The mob of angry migrants set ablaze several vehicles, including two buses, trucks, cars and scooters. Eyewitnesses said at least 25 vehicles were set on fire.
Ludhiana, an industrial city and home to big brands like the Hero and Oswal groups, attracts thousands of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other states every year for jobs. Over one third of the city’s four million population consists of migrants.