Perumbavoor: Criminal tendencies among a few persons have given a bad name to the majority of the hardworking and peace-loving migrant community in Perumbavoor, the hub of the state's migrant labor population.
An estimated 1.5 lakh migrant laborers from the States of Assam, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal live in Perumbavoor. The influx of such a workforce in recent times has been enormous and came with factors like spurt in crime rate. The growing crime rate has become a cause for concern for local residents.
Around 50 cases of serious nature, including five murder cases, were registered in police station limits in and around Perumabavoor over the past two years. The remaining ones include attempt to murder cases and drunken brawls. Rivalry between migrant laborers was the root cause of most of those crimes.
The prime accused in the murder of a mother and child at Orna in Allapra on the outskirts of Perumabavoor town was arrested from Assam about one-and-a-half months after the incident. Two other migrant laborers, who escaped after murdering their friend, were nabbed recently.
The accused in the murders at poultry farms in Kombanadu and Valayanchirangara, who went absconding after committing the crimes, were also arrested by the police months after the incidents. Three years ago, a migrant laborer hailing from Assam, was also held by police for allegedly killing a toddler.
The largest concentration of migrant workers in Perumbavoor is in the construction sector, which has been witnessing a boom over the past few decades. If all these migrant persons from North Indian States decide to return home together, the construction work and the functioning of plywood factories in the area will be hit hard.
The authorities had given specific instructions to employers and house owners to keep a detailed register of migrant laborers. However, most of them do not bother to comply with rules and maintain records of their workers or tenants. As a result, the police find themselves at dead end while probing many offences in which migrant labourers are allegedly involved.