Bank staff protest against cop attack, wear black ribbon

Surat: Over 10,000 employees of about 16 nationalised banks in the city donned black ribbon to protest the gruesome assault on a woman employee in the bank premises by a policeman and demanded protection from such a situation on Wednesday.
Terming the attack on woman employees as a dastardly and gruesome act, the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) and the Gujarat Bank Workers’ Association (GBWA) urged the employees of the nationalised banks to wear black ribbon as a mark of protest and demanded security of the bank employees from such attacks.
The GBWA office-bearers stated that the district collector Dhaval Patel visited the house of the woman employee of the Canara bank and that assured all possible legal action to help the family.
“The bank fraternity is shocked over the attack on the woman bank employee by a policeman. She is the mother of a 10-month-old baby and has suffered fracture. We have demanded that the policeman should be terminated from his job to set an example in the society,” said Vasant Barot, secretary of the GBWA.
“The GBWA met police commissioner and the district collector on Wednesday demanding strict legal action against the policeman. We have also submitted to the higher authorities to provide security at all the banks to protect the employees from such attackers,” added Barot.
“The attack on the woman employee has stunned the entire banking fraternity across the country. We will continue our protest till the time the policeman in question is not dealt with strictly. We have also demanded to deploy security personnel and surveillance at the bank branches to protest our employees,” said Ashok Desai, leader of the State Bank Union.