E-Paper
Sanitation employees launch strike in Faizullaganj after fellow worker’s ‘assault’
In protest, the sanitation workers raised slogans and set effigies ablaze on the streets of Faizullaganj, expressing their discontentment with “police inaction”.
LUCKNOW At least 300-400 sweepers and sanitation employees, working in three wards of Faizullaganj, went on a strike on Thursday morning. This action came in response to an alleged incident involving a BJP member, who purportedly assaulted and issued threats to a sanitation worker in the area.
In protest, the sanitation workers raised slogans and set effigies ablaze on the streets of Faizullaganj, expressing their discontentment with “police inaction”. Earlier, on Wednesday, the workers surrounded the Madiyaon police station demanding punitive measures against the man accused of assaulting the sanitation in-charge, in addition to subjecting other workers to caste-based verbal abuse.
Subsequently, an official complaint was filed by the victim sanitation worker, Seshmani Dubey, leading to the lodging of an FIR. A case was lodged under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (insult), 506 (criminal intimidation), and other relevant sections of the SC/ST Act against Shailendra Chaturvedi, Pramod Chaturvedi, and another unidentified man.
A protest was staged in front of the houses of Shailendra Chaturvedi and Pramod Chaturvedi. However, the family members of the accused have alleged that the protesting cleaning staff engaged in indecent behaviour and even threw stones inside the premises. In response, they urgently dialled the emergency number 112 for assistance. Inspector Shivakant Mishra and Sanjay Yadav, the zonal officer of zone three, arrived at the scene and managed to defuse the situation through persuasion.
Recalling the incident, Dubey said, “On August 9, zonal officer Sanjay Yadav was issuing challans to the residents of those households where a pile of garbage had amassed at the front. In response to my inquiries, individuals associated with the BJP slapped me and even issued death threats. They also hurled castiest abuses on our workers... If police fail to take appropriate action, we will persist with our protest and uphold the strike.”
