Phulokhari (Bathinda), June 29
The police resorted to lathi charge and opened fire to disperse a mob that went on rampage at the Guru Gobind Singh oil refinery at Phulokhari village, 45 km from the district headquarters of Bathinda, this morning.
The cops fired several rounds in the air after agitators burnt 25 two-wheelers, a fire tender and five cars on the refinery premises and in nearby areas. Wokers’ quarters were set on fire and documents at the refinery damaged. However, the protesters blamed the police for the arson.
The agitation began over the compensation to be paid to the family of Bhanu Tiwari, 40, a labourer employed for construction work at the refinery. Officials of the construction company and the protesters differed on the quantum of relief to the family.
At least two policemen and a number of protesters sustained injuries in the incident.
After extensive efforts spanning hours, police personnel from four districts of Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot and Sangrur controlled the situation. A compromise was reached among the labourers and the construction company and it was decided to pay a compensation of Rs 4.3 lakh to the bereaved family. The body of Bhanu was sent for postmortem to the Civil Hospital, Bathinda.
More than 10 labourers were detained.
Bhanu, working with Kazstroy, a construction company, had suffered sunstroke yesterday. His kin took him to a private hospital in Raman Mandi from where he was referred to Bathinda. He died on the way.
Hridya Tewari, brother of the deceased, said, “Keeping his body in Labour Colony, we kept waiting for the officers of the construction company to come, but they did not turn up. Late last evening, we took the body to the main gate of the refinery, where some representatives of the company kept negotiating with us till morning over the compensation. But all that was merely tactics to befool us”.
Officials of the refinery said: “Though the matter was directly related to the workers and the construction company, we were trying to help them arrive at a settlement. The mob was leaderless as they were not unanimous in demanding the amount of compensation.
Meanwhile, they started claiming that three more labourers had died due to heat stroke, but they had no detail to support their argument”.
Rajeev Parmar, chief manager, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited, said: “The restive mob barged into the refinery and damaged vehicles, offices and many official documents. It will take much more time to assess the quantum of loss caused to us even though we had no role in the whole controversy”.
Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Rahul Tewari said: “At present, the situation is under control.”
