Nine railwaymen have been suspended in connection with the assault of a divisional electrical engineer at the electrical loco shed in Royapuram on Tuesday.
This is the second incident within a month of a supervisory officer being roughed up by subordinates owing allegiance to the Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU), a senior railway official said.
Last month, a railway electrical engineer was manhandled at the EMU car shed in Velachery, following a row over staff having to mandatorily sign the attendance register.
In the Royapuram incident, Ramanathan, a senior divisional electrical engineer was roughed up by a group of employees for refusing to comply with their demands, which included the immediate transfer of a woman employee.
“Our immediate priority is to cool tempers and ensure an atmosphere of peace for unhindered railway operations,” an official said.
The Southern Railway Officers’ Association (SROA), meanwhile, convened an emergency meeting to condemn what it termed a ‘pre-planned’ and ‘unlawful act of violence’.
SROA representatives on Wednesday also met Southern Railway general manager, Rakesh Misra and submitted a petition complaining that in the last few months, there had been several cases of unlawful confinement of and physical misbehaviour against officers and supervisors by some office-bearers of SRMU.
They said instead of resorting to established mechanisms of grievance redressal, some employees were taking the law into their own hands.
The SROA, which feared that the ‘cosmetic’ action taken by the administration, as in the case of the Velachery incident, would only serve to embolden unruly elements in the workforce, demanded befitting action against those responsible for the assault on the engineer.
A spokesman for SRMU said exactly what transpired at in Royapuram would be examined before deciding on a course of action.
