GUWAHATI, Sept 9 - Hundreds of workers of the 108 and 102 emergency services were today arrested from the protest site in the Lokhra area here. The workers were arrested after a discussion held last night between the management of GVK EMRI and the agitating employees failed to reach a conclusion.
Along with the emergency workers, police also arrested peasant leader Akhil Gogoi who was present at the protest venue to offer his support.
The agitation by the GVK EMRI employees started on September 5. On the fifth day today, Congress leader Harish Rawat and pro-talk ULFA leader Anup Chetia also visited the protest venue and offered their support. The agitating employees have been staging a demonstration in protest against the alleged violation of labour laws by the company.
Police took all the arrested employees to the 4th Assam Police Battalion premises at Kahilipara and detained them there for around three hours. Police Commissioner Pradip Chandra Saloi said the agitators were released on bail later.
Meanwhile, the agitating employees today alleged that the management officials of GVK EMRI made anti-Assamese comments during the discussion last night. Even as they went to lodge a complaint with the Gorchuk police station against the management, a police official there, who was allegedly in a drunken state, misbehaved with them.
�Police have been trying to provide safeguard to the management of GVK EMRI, rather than giving importance to our demands,� an agitating employee told this correspondent. But Saloi denied that the management officials made any anti-Assamese comment.
�Some employees tried to attack the management officials,� said the Police Commissioner.
