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Over 200 female U.P. 112 contractual workers booked for rioting
On Wednesday, Lucknow Police booked five identified and 200 unidentified female contractual workers from U.P. 112 for their involvement in a sit-in protest that had been ongoing since Monday.
LUCKNOW More than 200 female contractual employees of the U.P. 112 emergency helpline, who have been staging a protest for job security and a salary increase in Lucknow, have been booked for rioting.
On Wednesday, Lucknow Police booked five identified and 200 unidentified female contractual workers from U.P. 112 for their involvement in a sit-in protest that had been ongoing since Monday. These women were demanding job security and a wage hike outside the U.P. 112 headquarters.
The FIR has been filed by sub-inspector Dhirendra Pratap Singh, who was on patrol duty with a constable when he encountered the protest. The demonstrators had allegedly taken to the streets, blocking passage and raising anti-government slogans. Singh immediately reported the situation to the control room, leading to the deployment of lady constables and women officers in an attempt to persuade the protesters to clear the main road. Despite these efforts, the protesters remained resolute.
The Additional Deputy General of U.P. 112, Ashok Singh, intervened by assuring the protesters that their jobs would not be jeopardised. Nevertheless, the women persisted with their protest. As a result, they were relocated to a designated protest site at Ambedkar Udyaan the following day.
High-ranking officers, including DCP South Vineet Jaiswal and Manish Singh ADCP Central, arrived at the protest site to once again appeal to the demonstrators to end their protest.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone, Shashank Singh, stated that the protesters were blocking a major thoroughfare and have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 188 (assembly of more than five), 283 (obstruction of public passage), and 341 (wrongful restraint).
The police report identified four protesters, namely Harishta Srivastava, Pooja Singh, Reena Sharma, and Shashi, while 200 others remain unidentified. Authorities are currently reviewing CCTV footage to identify all the individuals involved. The protesting workers, who serve as communication specialists at U.P. 112, expressed their frustration over the threat of job loss due to changes in outsourcing companies.
Opposition leaders, including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and UPCC chief Ajay Rai, voiced their support for the contractual employees. Akhilesh expressed his solidarity on social media, while Ajay Rai met with the U.P. 112 workers and penned a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath addressing the demands of the protesting contractual workers.
