After a day’s lull,clashes erupt in Surat again

Seeing the situation going out of control,senior officers on duty for the Republic Day celebrations,rushed to the spot with a huge force to bring the situation under control.

Surat Commissioner of Police Shivanand Jha was also present in Sachin on Saturday night — the first instance during the seven-day strike — for the crowd control exercise,which continued for an hour.

The protesting labourers refused to return to their homes and the police ordered lathi charge,after which the labourers pelted stones on the police.

The police lobbed 16 teargas shells and fired six rounds in the air to bring the situation under control. Six policemen were injured in stone pelting and one labourer,Manoj Parita (27),a resident of Sachin,sustained a bullet injury on the hand. Parita was rushed to a private hospital and later shifted to the New Civil Hospital for further treatment. Doctors at the hospital declared him out of danger.

The Sachin police registered a complaint of rioting and rounded up 61 labourers in combing operations at different residential localities in Sachin.

Mahendra Ramolia,president,Sachin Weavers Association,said: “Sachin GIDC was unaffected in the ongoing strike,which started last Monday. We had worked a lot with the help of the police and had assured the labourers that nothing will happen to them. But this possibly did not go down well with the protesting workers and they finally turned up in Sachin and attacked the police and the workers here. All factories in Sachin have shut down following Saturday’s incident.”

Ashok Jirawala,president of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association,said: “We don’t know when normalcy will return as the industry is suffering a great loss. We have explained the union labourers and told them to request labourers to start work but some of the notorious elements are not allowing the labourers to work in the factories. The police,labour officials and politicians all are working jointly to bring back normalcy,but nothing is working.”

Labour Department officials,Surat police and the politicians are trying their best to negotiate a solution between the agitating workers and the unit owners in view of the upcoming state-level Republic Day celebrations in the city,which is to be attended by Governor Dr. Kamla Beniwal and Chief Minister Narendra Modi,among others. The powerloom units in the city and the outskirts have stopped functioning for the last seven days and attempts to broker peace have proved futile.