Assam: Stranded migrants jump from Shramik train to escape quarantine; 56 arrested

As many as 56 stranded returnees made a futile attempt to escape from a Shramik Special train by pulling its emergency chain in Hojai in Assam, around 170 km from Guwahati.

The incident took place in the wee hours of June 3^rd, 2020, when the Lokmanya Tilak Shramik special train en route to Dibrugrah from Mumbai, halted near Hojai Railway station for several minutes after the emergency chain was pulled. The scheduled stop was Lumding. 

Following the incident, the Government Railway Police Force (GRPF) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel apprehended the escaped passengers. Of the 56 passengers, 31 are from Murajhar, 16 from Lanka, 2 from Yamunamukh, 2 from Hojai, and 4 from Doboka.

Also read: Assam reduces quarantine period to 4 days, recovery rate slow

The incident created a panic at Hojai station as the passengers had returned from Mumbai, the worst COVID-19 affected city.

It may be mentioned that a total of 191 stranded people returned from Bangalore and Delhi in six buses amidst the ongoing nationwide lockdown recently. They were stranded for over two months due to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19.

On May 31^st, 2020, the Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while claiming that the state has been able to contain the spread of COVID-19, said that a total of around 3 lakh people stranded in different parts of the country had returned to the state. Most of the COVID-19 cases had been detected among the returnees.

Also read: Efforts will go futile if ruthless quarantine not done: HBS on incoming migrants

The state has registered a total of 1621 confirmed COVID-19 cases; of which 1277 are active. The mortality rate in the state is 0.32 percent, the minister informed.

Keeping in view the increase in number of returnees, the state government has activated 50 model hospitals across the state for the treatment of non-symptomatic patients.

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