What’s the first thing that comes to mind when people say they want to escape the lockdown? Probably traveling in the boot of a car, like most typical spy movies, right? And you won’t be wrong, because throughout the global state of lockdown, people have in fact tried to sneak past police roadblocks by hiding in car boots.
Well, car boots might just be a little too obvious for these 14 migrant workers in India, so they decided that if they really wanted to escape detection, they had to try something else. Something that nobody has thought to try before.
They hid inside a cement mixer.
According to news outlets that reported on the incident, these 14 men were said to have been trying to travel a distance of over 1,200 km from the city of Nashik to another locale called Lucknow.
While all may have been well during the beginning of the journey, their ploy was foiled when the truck was pulled over by the police who grew suspicious over the fact that a cement mixer truck would be traveling, when India had imposed a nationwide ban on construction work.
It was when police started speaking to the four men who were occupying the front cab of the truck, did they grow suspicious when they started hearing more voices in the back. Ordering the driver to open the rear of the cement mixer, they were not prepared for what they found.
One by one, 14 men wriggled out from inside the belly of the cement mixer, with their hopes of traveling completely dashed.
According to The Indian Express, all 14 men along with two drivers and two cleaners were screened for Covid-19 and do not show any symptoms of Covid-19 so far. A first information report (FIR) has since been filed, and the truck was confiscated by the authorities.
The video, which has since gone viral internationally, has even reached Malaysian shores, with many netizens jokingly remarking that this is how people will have to travel if they wish to balik kampung in secret during the Conditional Movement Control Order period.
While this may be all fun and games to most of us, it begs to question just what circumstances these migrant workers were in that led them to resorting to such drastic measures to travel between state borders in India.
Also read: Video: Malaysian Girl Does TikTok Of Her Breaking MCO By Hiding In Friend’s Car Boot
