Cases range from fights to murders

KOCHI: Despite the police claims of maintaining a vigil on the migrant   labourers and their activities in the city, criminal cases involving migrant  labourers are on the rise.  Of late, according to the police, at least 30 cases have been reported, especially from the rural pockets of Ernakulam, in which migrant workers  were involved.  “The offences vary from the pettiest of crimes such as fights among  themselves to criminal offenses such as the sale of ganja and murder, though  the latter are extremely rare,” said District Crimes Records Bureau  assistant commissioner Ammose Maamen.  And, though the police keep a tab on the activities of these labourers in the city, they are seen to be moving towards the rural belts of Ernakulam.Rural Special Branch DySP A Anil Kumar said: “They feel safer in places like Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam, where they reside in large number. Also,  they know that strict enforcement of law is difficult in these areas. So, criminals among the migrant labourers are actually concentrated in these  areas. Unless, the Labour Department ensures that they are provided with identification cards, the police have their limitations.” In Perumbavoor alone, two incidents of rape have been registered in January,  a police official with the Perumbavoor police station said. Cases of  fighting have become common among labourers in the Thrikkakara locality.   “Most of the incidents occur because the workers are provoked. Even women   are found to be involved in crimes. The need of the hour is to educate them,” said Perumbavoor DySP Hari Krishnan K. Most of the migrant labourers belong to the north-eastern regions of India, especially West Bengal. “But, there are rumours that most Bengali migrant labourers arriving in the state are actually from Bangladesh. They make false identity cards and  passports and somehow reach Kerala. The situation is alarming as we don’t   have a proper mechanism to monitor the people who flow into the state,” Anil Kumar added." Of the cases registered in police stations in the rural areas, at least 3 per cent have a migrant labour connection," Anil Kumar added.