Police detain activist for helping migrant workers

May 21, 2020 12:59 am | Updated 12:59 am IST - Mumbai

Mumbai: 09/02/2019: FOLLOW STORY: Adv. Afroz Shah is seen engaged in the cleaning process the river bed of Mithi at Aarey Colony in Mumbai on Saturday. Photo: Prashant Waydande

Mumbai: 09/02/2019: FOLLOW STORY: Adv. Afroz Shah is seen engaged in the cleaning process the river bed of Mithi at Aarey Colony in Mumbai on Saturday. Photo: Prashant Waydande

Lawyer and environment activist Afroz Shah on Wednesday claimed that he was detained for almost two hours at Tilak Nagar police station while he was helping migrant labourers on Tuesday night.

Mr. Shah, who is involved in a variety of causes including animal welfare and beach clean up, said the incident occurred around 11.30 p.m. on Tuesday. He said his team has been running kitchens for the poor and underprivileged people, including migrant workers, since March, and also feeding stray dogs during the lockdown period.

“Migrant workers are walking on the Thane-Nasik Highway and I have been going there daily to distribute biscuits, water and other required items. On Tuesday, when I left for home after the day’s activities, I met a few migrant labourers in Thane. They were walking barefoot and wanted to go to Byculla, so I gave them a lift. In Byculla, I met a few more migrants who wanted to be dropped to Ghatkopar, so I dropped them as well. Since they were too many of them, I decided to make two to three trips,” Mr. Shah said.

He said he was stopped at the Ghatkopar stretch of the Eastern Express Highway by two policemen. “They threatened to take legal action against me and asked me to accompany them to the police station. Since I’m a practising lawyer with the Bombay High Court, I knew I hadn’t committed any offence. They took me, and the others with me, to the Tilak Nagar police station where we were detained for about two hours before they let us go,” he added. The labourers were asked to board a bus.

Mr. Shah said the overall experience left him disturbed and the police behaviour with them was abusive.

“I’m suspending my activities now because I am emotionally and physically drained. This is a systemic problem. The police officials need to be given training like any other corporate employees. They should be taught how to deal with criminals and non-criminals,” he said.

Mr. Shah later took to Twitter to speak of his experience and said he was subsequently contacted by Mumbai Police commissioner Parambir Singh, who assured him that action will be taken against the concerned police personnel.

Senior police inspector Sushil Kamble, Tilak Nagar police station and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone VI) Shashikumar Meena could not be reached for their comments.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.