The Pothencode police arrested two trade union activities for reportedly manhandling a few construction workers for denying ‘nokkukooli’ on Thursday.
The accused were identified as Thulaseedharan Nair and Venugopalan Nair of Neduveli near Pothencode. While both of those arrested were affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the police said workers belonging to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) were also involved in the incident.
₹10,000 demanded
The incident occurred in Kaduvakkuzhy around 9 a.m. when the group disrupted the construction of a house. Claiming that the complainant, Manikantan, a mason who led the construction, had unloaded certain equipment and construction materials a day ago without hiring them, the trade union activists demanded ₹10,000.
Captured on cellphones
While the construction workers refused to pay the ‘nokkukooli’, the union activists purportedly assaulted them and a few workers recorded the incident on their mobile phones. A case has been registered under provisions of the Kerala Loading and Unloading (Regulation of Wages and Restriction of Unlawful Practices), Act. Efforts were on to nab the others involved in the attack, the police said.
