The police on Monday resorted to lathicharge to disperse a strong crowd of retrenched workers, who had gathered in front of the office of the Chief Engineer of Public Works Department here, seeking immediate reinstatement.
At least three workers were injured in the lathicharge and five police vehicles damaged when the agitated workers gave vent to their anger while being taken to a police station. A few policemen were also injured in the clash.
Trouble broke out when about 1,000 retrenched workers, who were appointed by the previous Congress regime and removed from service soon after the N.R. Congress assumed office, tried to reach the Chief Engineer’s office by breaking the barricades put up by the police. They engaged in heated arguments with the police who prevented their entry into the office. The workers said that they should be allowed to meet the senior officials in order to know the status of their service and the promise given by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who had promised that they would be reinstated soon.
Since the police refused entry, the workers tried to break open the barriers. Unrelenting, the police chased them away by force and cleared the area by taking into custody a large number of workers. Three workers, who suffered injuries, have been admitted to the hospital.
According to police version, a section of the workers broke the windscreens of six police vehicles while they were being taken to the Kalapet police station.
Following a rumour that one of the workers died in the lathicharge, the workers got down from the police vehicles and blocked traffic on East Coast Road near Kalapet. Police had to clarify that none of the injured workers died to end their road blockade. A senior police official said that a case had been registered against 186 persons for preventing government officials from discharging duty, damaging public properties among others. They would be produced before court for remand.
On what prompted the police to use force on workers, the top cop said not all were lathicharged. The police used force only against a few persons who refused to board the police vehicles.
Various political parties including the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Communist Party of India condemned the lathicharge on retrenched workers.
Former Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam visited the injured at the hospital.
