Nirma labourers vandalise staff bus after train cancellation

Hundreds of labourers working at the Nirma Limited's detergent plant in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district allegedly went on a rampage and vandalised a staff bus in the early hours of Monday after a Shramik Special train to Uttar Pradesh from here was cancelled, police said. The incident took place at the labourers' colony near Nirma plant in Kala Talav area after the workers got angry thinking the company was not letting them go to their native place during the lockdown, "which was not true", Superintendent of Police Jaipalsinh Rathore said.

"Some of the labourers were supposed to catch a special train to Uttar Pradesh from Bhavnagar railway station on Monday morning. When they were being taken to the station in a staff bus, the company management learnt the train was cancelled due to some reason. Thus, the bus took a u-turn mid-way and came back to the labourers' colony," he said.

The labourers thought the company was not allowing them to go, the official said. "After returning, they went on a rampage and broke some window panes and windscreen of the bus," he said. Police lodged an FIR under charges of rioting and a process was underway to arrest 10 of the labourers, he added.