Around 1,000 migrant labourers gathered at Nagpada in South Mumbai on Wednesday morning to press for their demand that they be sent back to their hometowns in northern parts of India immediately, an official said. The police used force and lathicharged the protestors, as the situation went out of control, the official said. "Hundreds of stranded people, who wanted to go to their hometowns, gathered near hotel Rippon Palace, and demanded that a special train be arranged for them to go to their native places," he said.

Most of them had submitted their documents to police for verifications and other formalities, he said. "As they came onto the streets in the large numbers and as the situation was going out of control, the police used force to control them", he said. A purported video of the police lathi-charging them was doing rounds in social media.