Thiruvananthapuram/ Kozhikode: The state police chief on Tuesday sought to allay the fears of migrant workers about their safety in Kerala and assured to extend all help to them. DGP Loknath Behera, who convened a news conference, appealed to the migrant workers in the state not to panic following the baseless reports on attacks being carried out against them. “Kerala is totally safe for people from outside the states, including migrant workers,” he said and added that a 'technology-based’ probe was on to trace the source of the dubious campaign.
In a bid to effectively communicate his message to migrant workers, Mr Behera, who belongs to Odisha, also made separate appeals in Hindi and Bangla during the press conference. He said the state government and the police were giving top priority for the welfare and safety of migrants. In the event of migrant workers having any safety concerns, they could immediately report the matter to the nearby police stations. “Migrants have been working in the state for the last 15 years and they have not faced any discrimination,” he added.
Mr. Behera also said that he would try to convey his message through his counterparts in West Bengal and Odisha from where the maximum numbers of migrants come. He denied the reports that migrant workers were leaving the state in large numbers due to the propaganda. Though it would be a difficult task to trace the source of the ongoing campaign, the cyber police was putting a lot of effort to get the leads. Kozhikode city police commissioner S. Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar will coordinate the investigation, he added.
Mr Behera also said that he would try to convey his message through his counterparts in West Bengal and Odisha from where the maximum numbers of migrants come. He denied the reports that migrant workers were leaving the state in large numbers due to the propaganda. Though it would be a difficult task to trace the source of the ongoing campaign, the cyber police was putting a lot of effort to get the leads. Kozhikode city police commissioner S. Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar will coordinate the investigation, he added. He said that it was too early to express doubts about any particular person or agency behind the campaign.
However, the intention is clearly to defame the state and its peaceful culture, he said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said migrant workers were totally secure in the state and added the law of the land is applicable to everyone. “We treat those from outside Kerala as our brothers and that is our culture. All propaganda to the contrary is false,” he said. It is learnt that out of some 30,000 migrant labourers working in Kozhikode, nearly 500 have left for their native places. The highest number of those gone home belong to Midnapore in West Bengal.
