Demanding the arrest of a contractor and an advocate, who allegedly issued death threat to the Commissioner of Kadayanallur municipality, around 150 workers of the urban civic body observed fast at Kadayanallur on Thursday after going on leave en masse.
The protesters said a contractor and his friend, who is an advocate and AIADMK students’ wing office-bearer, met Commissioner Ayub Khan on Wednesday and asked him to clear the bill for a work, which was yet to be completed.
When Mr. Ayub Khan refused to clear the bill, the duo verbally abused him and issued death threat.
“However, the police, based on the advocate’s complaint, have registered a case against the differently abled Commissioner of having abused the advocate by referring to his caste, which was not true. Though the police have registered a case against the contractor and the advocate following a complaint from the Commissioner, no action has been taken against them,” Seetharaman, State secretary of Tamil Nadu Municipality Workers’ Association, said.
As almost all workers of Kadayanallur municipality went on leave on Thursday to participate in the agitation, Revenue Divisional Officer, Tenkasi, Venkatesh met the protesters even as they were observing fast and persuaded them to give up their agitation.
Rejecting the appeal, Municipality Manager Babu, who spoke to the RDO on behalf of the protesters, said three cases under the SC / ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been registered against the Municipal Commissioner and the officials over the past six months whenever they refused to violate the laws in favour of a few people.
“Moreover, we’re under constant threat from those with political and communal backing and hence we can’t work peacefully at Kadayanallur municipality. As there is no protection for the municipal workers of Kadayanallur, we’ve decided to submit petitions seeking transfer for all of us to some other place. If no proper action is taken against those who have crippled the municipality’s work, our agitation and our efforts to get transfers will continue,” Mr. Babu told Mr. Venkatesh.
