Police booked junior engineer (JE) and sub-divisional officer (SDO) on Saturday after members of municipal karamchari dal and kin of sewermen Sonu and Mehar Chand, who were suffocated to death while cleaning a sewerline, protested for five hours on Jagraon Bridge.
After the police lodged an FIR against the concerned junior engineer (JE) and sub-divisional officer (SDO) under Section 304-A (causing death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the protesters lifted the road blockage after five hours at around 3:40pm.
Commuters suffered a harrowing time due to road blockage.
The protesters were demanding a first information report (FIR) against municipal corporation officials and police took hours to lodge the same.
The protest started at around 10.30am outside civil hospital. After an hour the protesters marched towards Jagraon Bridge and blocked the traffic.
Jatinder Singh, brother of Sonu, stated that the officers called his brother and Mehar Chand for cleaning sewer line at Nirankari Mohalla. He alleged that the officers concerned did not provide them safety gears and forced them to go down the manhole without any safety kit. He added that Sonu and Chand suffocated to death due to officer’s negligence.
The protest left the commuters a harried lot, as Jagraon Bridge the only link between the main areas of the city, was blocked. The officers present on the spot conveyed demands of the protesters to their seniors, but they failed to respond in time. The protesters refused to lift the protest until an FIR was lodged
{{/usCountry}}The protest left the commuters a harried lot, as Jagraon Bridge the only link between the main areas of the city, was blocked. The officers present on the spot conveyed demands of the protesters to their seniors, but they failed to respond in time. The protesters refused to lift the protest until an FIR was lodged
{{/usCountry}}At around 3.30 pm when protesters blocked all roads on Jagraon Bridge, the police swung into action and lodged the FIR.
One of the commuters Amritbir Singh of Millar Ganj said blocking Jagraon Bridge has become a common practice. The protesters never think about the harassment that commuters face.
Aniket Kharbanda, who visited his family in the city and works in Noida, got stuck in the jam and had to walk till railway station to catch the train.
Division number 2 house officer (SHO) inspector Kuldeep Singh said the police have lodged an FIR against the JE and SDO of the municipal corporation following the demand of the deceased’s relatives.
President of the union Laxman Dravid said, getting an FIR registered against the guilty officials was their priority. Now they will hold a meeting with MC commissioner Ghanshyam Thori, demanding a compensation of `15 each and also a government job for family member of the deceased.
In the past on September 12, kin of four youths who drowned in the Sutlej while immersing an idol also blocked Jagraon Bridge for six hours.