A group of at least 70 migrants were duped by some truck drivers who first promised to drop the workers at their destination in Uttar Pradesh free of cost but later forced them to pay for the ride.
The migrant workers belonging to Prayagraj, were taking the long walk home on foot when the truck drivers spotted them in Thane in Maharashtra and offered to give them a free lift.
According to the migrants, the truck drivers first asked them to board the vehicle without paying any money but later threatened them to pay Rs 3,000 per head.
"We were walking on our way home under a scorching sun when a truck stopped by in Thane. There were three people in it. One of them promised to drop us in Prayagraj without charging any money. But after some distance, he asked us to pay Rs 3000 per head which we paid. Later, he asked us to pay Rs 500 more and threatened to drop us on the way if we failed to give money," Deepak Kumar one of the migrants told .
"When we told him that there was no money left, he threatened that he will not stop the truck anywhere even for food. We requested them to stop the truck so that we can have water and food, but the truck driver did not stop. Thankfully, Police stopped the truck here at Maharashtra-Madhya Pradesh border check-post. One of them ran away. Police have caught the other two," Kumar added.
Recounting the woes faced by them during their long journey from Maharashtra, another migrant Sunil said: "I became jobless after lockdown. I do not have money and hence decided to go back home along with the others. We were walking on foot but the truck drivers duped us in the name of helping us."
( With inputs from ANI )