The UP police 'rescued' 16 youths who were walking from Varanasi to Samastipur along the railway tracks. The youths were forced to take the long walk home after the lockdown was imposed and could not find any means of transport for their journey.
They were working in Calicut in Kerala and had managed to reach Jhansi by train just before the railways shut down services. "From Jhansi, we took a lift from some trucks that were passing by and managed to reach Varanasi but for the onward journey, we have no option but to walk," one of the youths told the police.
The youths reached the Kuchman railway station when Superintendent of Police Hemant Kutiyal came to know and he rescued them. The youths had not eaten for the past four days. One of the youth said that they were walking along the railway track so as not to lose the way. The SP has now obtained special permission and will be arranging for a vehicle to send the youths to their homes on Thursday.
In another related incident, the Meerut police also 'rescued' a labourer, his wife and four children who had been walking around, in search of food. The family, including the children, has not eaten for more than 48 hours. Bijender Rana, station officer (SO) of Kankerkhera police station, said, "The entire family was in a bad shape. But, thankfully, they reached well in time. We gave them food and some money too."
The labourer, Imran Ahmad, said that they did not know how to survive the remaining period of lockdown. He told the police that there are hundreds of labourers working at brick kilns who are facing a similar plight. In Lucknow, the police showed its human face, when it served food packets to the homeless living under the Nishatganj bridge.
