Mumbai, April 15: The Mumbai Police formally arrested Vinay Dubey, a self-described union leader, in the wee hours of Wednesday. His arrest came shortly after he was detained on Tuesday night from Navi Mumbai's Airoli for allegedly instigating labourers from North India to violate the lockdown. His role is being probed in relation to the chaos which erupted at the Bandra West bus depot less than 24 hours ago. Migrant Workers Protest In Bandra, Mumbai, Demand They Be Allowed To Travel To Their Native States as COVID-19 Lockdown Gets Extended, Watch Video.

Dubey came under the scanner after he allegedly used the social media to plan a protest march of migrant labourers in Mumbai's Kurla region on April 18. He had subsequently fled to Airoli, as per the reports. After thousands of migrants turned out in Bandra on Tuesday, the police launched an operation to trace him.

On the inputs received from Mumbai Police, the Navi Mumbai Police detained Dubey last night and handed over his custody to the former. He was kept at the Azad Nagar police station and is expected to be produced before a local court later today.

The case registered by the police invokes charges against Dubey under IPC sections 117, 153 A, 188, 269, 270, 505 (2) and Section 3 of The Epidemic Diseases Act.

Update by ANI

Dubey, in a Facebook video allegedly released by him, could be heard appealing the migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal to come out in thousands to "fight for their rights". He told them that they either have the option of dying in Mumbai or reuniting with their families in their native places.

His role is also being investigated into the spread of a rumor which claimed that special buses are being arranged from the Bandra bus depot, which led to a crowd of over 1,000 migrants assembling at the bus station. The migrants had gathered shorty after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that the nationwide lockdown to is extended till May 3, to contain the transmission of coronavirus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2020 08:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).