Desperate to get back to their homes, four drivers took turns crawling into the steel drum of a concrete mixer truck as they set out on a 1,380 km bumpy ride back home in Uttar Pradesh. They left Mumbai on International Workers’ Day on May 1, after battling hunger and with virtually no money after being denied wages for three months.
“The heat inside was more bearable than the hunger,” said Manoj Yadav. On the way, they picked up 14 others trudging back home. While most of the others planned to get a ride to their native Gorakhpur district, Mr. Yadav hoped to disembark in Lucknow and walk to his home in Prayagraj, 200 km away.
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On the outskirts of Indore, a policeman caught sight of a head popp