CHENNAI: Sanitary workers of Greater Chennai Corporation held flash protests outside Neelankarai police station and Sholinganallur zonal office on Thursday condemning their harassment by police personnel that included constant verbal abuse.
The protests were organised after police on Wednesday abused a worker when he refused to uproot a tree near a police booth in Akkarai.
There were at least three incidents of highhanded behaviour by police personnel in the last month in Sholinganallur zone (zone 15), which led to hundreds of sanitary workers gathering, according to the Madras Red Flag Union.
“I was going to Injambakkam from Sholinganallur. After VGP signal, a policeman flagged the vehicle (an earthmover) and asked me to remove a fallen tree near the Akkarai police booth. When I went there, they told me to uproot a live tree too. I refused as such an act had put a senior corporation official into trouble recently,” Arumugam, a earthmover driver with the city corporation said.
The policeman persisted and when Arumugam refused saying that the former would not come to his rescue if he got suspended for this, he started abusing him. “I told him to move through proper channels and get permission from higher-ups and since my area of work is in the region, I can do it any day. But, he verbally abused me and came to assault me,” Arumugam said.
When Arumugam tried to file a complaint at Neelankarai police station, they refused to file even a community service register (CSR) after which the word spread and the workers staged a protest.
“This is not the only instance. There have been several instances when police harassed our workers while returning from work despite showing our identity cards,” said P Srinivasalu, general secretary, Madras Red Flag Union.
Senior police officers promised action against the erring personnel after which the workers called off the strike.
The protests were organised after police on Wednesday abused a worker when he refused to uproot a tree near a police booth in Akkarai.
There were at least three incidents of highhanded behaviour by police personnel in the last month in Sholinganallur zone (zone 15), which led to hundreds of sanitary workers gathering, according to the Madras Red Flag Union.
“I was going to Injambakkam from Sholinganallur. After VGP signal, a policeman flagged the vehicle (an earthmover) and asked me to remove a fallen tree near the Akkarai police booth. When I went there, they told me to uproot a live tree too. I refused as such an act had put a senior corporation official into trouble recently,” Arumugam, a earthmover driver with the city corporation said.
The policeman persisted and when Arumugam refused saying that the former would not come to his rescue if he got suspended for this, he started abusing him. “I told him to move through proper channels and get permission from higher-ups and since my area of work is in the region, I can do it any day. But, he verbally abused me and came to assault me,” Arumugam said.
When Arumugam tried to file a complaint at Neelankarai police station, they refused to file even a community service register (CSR) after which the word spread and the workers staged a protest.
“This is not the only instance. There have been several instances when police harassed our workers while returning from work despite showing our identity cards,” said P Srinivasalu, general secretary, Madras Red Flag Union.
Senior police officers promised action against the erring personnel after which the workers called off the strike.
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