Sisir Kumar Mishra, public relations officer, police commissionerate, said the migrant labourers had been intercepted in Cuttack and “dissuaded” from continuing with their journey. “During the extended lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 10 migrant labourers from Jharkhand and 21 from Bengal were dissuaded while passing through Cuttack. According to official records, more than 77,000 migrant labourers are stranded in different parts of Odisha. While a number of them have been accommodated in government-run shelters, those like Gope have been put in under-construction buildings. There is no money in any labourer’s family.

Source: The Telegraph April 17, 2020 23:03 UTC