In a crackdown on a human cargo, which has been on a spurt ever since the country-wide lockdown was announced last week, Saki Naka Police intercepted a truck marked with 'Goods Carrier' at a check post in Andheri (E) in the wee hours of Sunday and found 64 people, all labourers, crammed inside it. Police rescued the labourers and booked the driver, owner of the truck, who charged Rs 2,500 each from these people under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Diseases Act, following which they seized the truck.
According to police, a goods carrier truck, MH-02-FG-1805 was intercepted at a barricade set up near Andheri (E). An officer said, the truck seemed shady, as it was shabbily covered with a tarpaulin, which raised many alarms. When the police checked the back of the truck, they saw people crammed inside it.
Police said, 64 labourers, who lived in and around Saki Naka area were trying to reach their hometown in Uttar Pradesh by unlawful means. "Preliminary probe revealed that all these people belonged to the daily wage worker class and had a hand-to-mouth existence. The driver and owner of the truck had promised them to drop them safely at their home town in UP, for which they had charged Rs 2,500 each per person," Ankit Goyal, deputy commissioner of police (zone 10) said.
The driver and the owner of the truck have been identified as Amjad Ali Razzak Shah, 32, and his brother Mohammad, 35, respectively. While the police seized their truck and booked them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Epidemic Diseases Act, among others, the rescued people were all escorted to the police station, enquired and provided biscuits before releasing them.
Subsequently, Saki Naka Police also informed the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to arrange for the groceries, food and other essential commodities for these people, while the truck in which they were being transported was also sent for sanitisation.
