Karnataka: Union leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar detained as RTC employees' strike enters 4th day
Belagavi(KTK): Kodihalli Chandrashekar, who is leading the ongoing Karnataka state owned transport employees' strike, has been detained in this district headquarters town, sources said.
"Police took Chandrashekar into their custody and are taking him to Bengaluru," sources said.
According to sources in the Belagavi administration, Chandrashekar wanted to meet the Deputy Commissioner of the district, which was not granted. Angry over it, the leader decided to stage a demonstration there.
The district authorities then detained him and directed that he be sent out of the district.
Meanwhile, fissures seem to have opened among sections of the state owned transport corporation bus employees' federation as the strike over their salary related issues entered the fourth day on Saturday.
The Karnataka government on Friday banned with immediate effect the indefinite strike by employees of the road transport corporations, which affected bus services across the State.
Citing inconvenience caused to the public and that the strike was against provisions of the industrial disputes act, the Labour department issued the ban orders.
The dispute has been referred to the industrial tribunal, Bengaluru for adjudication, it added.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa appealed to the employees to resume work, even as he made it clear that it was not possible to meet their demand for wages as per the 6th Pay Commission.
With the government reiterating its stand on wages as per the 6th Pay Commission, RTC employees decided to continue with the strike on Saturday as well.
Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, honorary president of the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League, said the strike is on and will continue for the fourth day on Saturday.
On Saturday a few union leaders expressed their displeasure over the way Chandrashekhar handled the issue.
The Karnataka Transport Employees Federation has chosen Chandrashekhar as their honorary president to lead their agitation and negotiate with the government for the implementation of the sixth pay commission.
"The strike is continuing, but we are caught in a problem due to the impractical demand. Now we cannot move forward, return backward," the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation union leader K Prakash said.
Chandrashekhar should not have put forth just one demand, which will fizzle out because it cannot be fulfilled in view of the present situation, another union leader said requesting anonymity.
Chandrashekhar was not available for his comment.
There are four state owned transport corporations and all of them have gone on strike demanding salaries on par with the state government employees.
The stalemate has caused inconvenience to the commuters, many of whom alleged that private transporters overcharged for the trips.
The government has sacked trainee and probationary employees of various corporations, including 216 Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in the past two days for taking part in the agitation.
The government also managed to run 652 buses till 10 am.
Yet, it was way too short of the demand. The Railways too are operating nine special trains on Saturday.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
