Migrant workers on Saturday staged a flash protest at different locations in Chennai, demanding to be sent back to their home states immediately, an official said.

The workers, most of whom were employed at construction sites till the lockdown, suddenly converged at several locations, including Velachery, Pozhichallur and Guindy Industrial Estate, and shouted slogans.

Munna, from Bihar, said: “We are prepared to walk all the way home if it is not possible for the government to arrange transport.”

Deb, from Bengal, said he and his co-workers had been confined to an under-construction building in Velacherry for more than a month and were struggling without wages. “I can’t sit idle here, without work or wages,” he said.

Police pacified the workers and sent them back.

At the same time, other groups gathered at the collectorate at Vellore district, requesting the authorities to facilitate their return.

Approximately 3,000 people are stranded in Vellore. Most of them are patients who had come to seek treatment at Christian Medical College Hospital and their relatives.