The Katpadi police have detained a driver for attempting to illegally transport 49 migrants in a container truck to their native places in Uttar Pradesh, violating the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
A truck, which was meant for transporting cars bearing New Delhi registration, has been seized.
When the police checked the vehicle near an inter-State RTO checkpost near Katpadi on Wednesday morning, there were 29 men, 9 women and 11 children travelling in the vehicle.
They were lodged in a special care zone created at a private school in Katpadi.
The occupants were residents of Poonamallee. They had decided to move to their hometowns after the spread of the coronavirus in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, officials said.
A revenue official from Katpadi said that efforts were being made through Tiruvallur district administration to transport them by buses. They have been provided food and water, he added.
