Hundreds of poor migrant workers have begun fleeing Kashmir to return to their villages in northern and eastern India after a complete security lockdown was imposed in the disputed Himalayan region.

Some complained that their Kashmiri employers did not pay them any salary as security forces began imposing tight travel restrictions over the weekend and asked them to leave their jobs.

Jagdish, who uses one name, said workers walked for miles on a highway and hitched rides on army trucks and buses from Srinagar to Jammu, a distance of 160 miles.

The fleeing workers crowded the railway station at Jammu waiting for trains.

Indian authorities has clamped a complete shutdown on Kashmir as they scrapped the state’s special privileges and divided it into two union territories.