Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 27: Scores of daily wagers of Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department were taken into preventive custody on second consecutive day today when they tried to take out a protest march in support of their demands, including regularization of daily wagers and casual workers.
The agitating daily wagers assembled outside PHE office near BSNL office this afternoon and tried to march towards city center of Lal Chowk.
But a heavy contingent of police was deployed on the spot to thwart such move.
The police asked them to disperse and not to move forward; the protesters insisted on taking the march forward and held a sit in for minutes together on the main road. “We are being forced by this Government to come on roads,” the protesters said, adding, the Government was responsible for all the mess.
Police bundled dozens of protesters in their vehicles and took them into preventive custody.
Police also called a special vehicle to spray colored water on the protesters, but after feeling that police might use force to disperse them, the protesters chose to disperse peacefully.
The protest was called by Kashmir PHE Joint Employees Association in support of its demand for regularization of daily-wage workers, casual labourers and need-based workers, besides their pending salaries be released and paid regularly.
Earlier, six daily wagers of PHE were injured after police beat them after resorting to batons charge and use of water cannons to disperse them. Some agitating employees were dragged by the police to bundle them in their vans and scores of them were severely beaten up by police with gun butts.
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