ERNAKULAM: Large-scale protests on Sunday by migrant workers in Kerala’s Kottayam district, demanding to be sent back to their home states, have given rise to suspicion of a foul play. It marked the state’s biggest violation so far in the nationwide lockdown.

The police have registered cases against 2000 migrant workers who flooded the streets and are suspecting certain activists of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a Muslim fundamentalist political party, to have spread fake messages which created panic among the migrants, senior police officials told Mint, requesting to be not named. When contacted, U Navas, president of SDPI in Kottayam, refuted the charges. "We have nothing to do with it," he said.

In a separate incident, the police have arrested Shakir PK, a local Youth Congress official in Malappuram district, for spreading a fake message about trains being arranged in the state for migrants to return home.

Over 20 mobile phones seized from migrants in a midnight raid Sunday found fake video messages to organise and agitate in order to force the state to provide return trains to their native states, with underpinnings of religious discrimination, officials said. The clippings said that it is through organised protests that migrant workers in Delhi got buses arranged to return to Uttar Pradesh, said the police officials. Kerala has formed a team under Ernakulam Inspector General I G Mahesh Kumar to investigate the incident.

Following the developments, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan came out with a Facebook post in English and Hindi, alleging that some "anti-social elements" are trying to misuse this situation and jeopardise the harmony of the state.

"Clear indication on the antisocial elements who had tried to take advantage of the situation and thereby created incidents like Payippad have come out. We even kindly urge them not to misuse this situation anymore and jeopardise the harmony of the state. Please do not hurt our land for your petty gains. The government will do everything to make sure they face the law of the land without any fail," said Vijayan.

The chief minister said that the state's recent practice of calling interstate migrant labourers as "guest workers" in all official documents itself shows the warm vigil the administration has towards them.

"Strict actions will be taken against such antisocial conspiracies in future. We will address all issues of guest workers and rectify failures if pointed out. We will not loosen our warm vigil for guest workers in any manner. All the announced welfare measures will be implemented in its entirety. We request all the guest workers in the state to understand the reality, not to panic and fall prey to such conspiracies in future," said Vijayan.

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