Unemployed migrant workers left stranded by the COVID-19 lockdown have repeatedly clashed [11] with police in India's industrial hub of Gujarat state, and the situation is fast escalating. Protesters demanding transport back to their homes were again attacked by police at a market on the outskirts of Surat on May 4; tear-gas canisters were met with pelted stones. (NDTV [12], GulfNews [13]) Riots yet again erupted four days later in Ahmedabad, as security forces attacked residents defying stringent lockdown orders. (AFP [14], FirstPost [15])
At the request of state authorities, Delhi has dispatched to Gujarat seven companies of 100 troops each from the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF [16]) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF [17]). (Times of India [18])
Indian authorities are also facing outrage over the death of 15 migrant workers, who were killed by a freight train while sleeping on railway tracks in Maharashtra state. They had apparently taken refuge in the rail-yard in Aurangabad district to avoid police harassment for violating lockdown while attempting to walk back to their home villages in Madhya Pradesh. (Outlook [19], Indian Express [20])