KOCHI: The owner of an LPG distribution agency at Kuzhuppilly near Vypeen was allegedly assaulted by a group of CITU leaders following a labour dispute on Tuesday. The complainant, V K Umesh (Uma) Sudheer, a member of the scheduled caste community, alleged the leaders hurled casteist slur and insulted and assaulted her.
The Munambam police have booked a case against Kerala Petroleum and Gas Workers Union (CITU) state secretary P K Anilkumar and 10 others on charges of unlawful assembly, rioting, criminal trespass, wrongful confinement of a person, criminal intimidation, use of obscene words and various sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
According to the complainant’s husband Sudheer, the CITU leaders trespassed into the premises of A & A Gas Agency owned by his wife and held a meeting to form a unit of the union on Tuesday morning. They demanded permanent appointment of four labourers who were employed temporarily on a contract basis.
“The temporary workers were employed to clear the backlog in distribution of LPG cylinders. They were allowed to continue after that. They threatened to kill us if we don’t accept their demands,” said Sudheer.
Umesh said she would approach the court for police protection as the union leaders have threatened to disrupt the distribution of LPG cylinders. Reacting to the allegations, Anilkumar said the LPG agency denied salary and bonus fixed by the state government to the workers.