Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered action against officials who sprayed a group of migrant workers with bleach in the state's Bareilly, about 270 km from Lucknow, on Sunday, in an attempt disinfect them amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Condemning the incident, he also asked to make sure that such incidents do not happen in the future, Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary, told reporters on Tuesday.
The incident had triggered widespread outrage on Monday amid fears that a large scale movement of people from cities to the countryside risked spreading the coronavirus.
Footage showed a group of migrant workers sitting on a street in Bareilly as health officials in protective suits used hose pipes to douse them in bleach, prompting anger on social media.
Nitish Kumar, the top government official in the district, said health workers had been ordered to disinfect buses being used by the local authorities but in their zeal had also turned their hoses on migrant workers.
"I have asked for action to be taken against those responsible for this," he said in a tweet.
The government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, with thousands of labourers subsequently fleeing cities for their home villages after work - and public transport - vanished.
India has registered more than 1,200 cases of the new coronavirus, of whom 32 have died, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
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