Also, CCP employess who arrived for duty Tuesday morning were met with wet stinky garbage strewn inside the CCP office which made it impossible for them to carry out their work.
The demonstration by the CCP workers outside the corporation office turned aggressive when the workers blocked the road leading to their arrest. The workers were, however, released later in the evening, but Rane refused to sign on bail form and declared a hunger strike within the lockup.
Panjim police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Rane and members of the CCP employees union for forming an unlawful assembly and obstructing public servants from discharging their duty.
Speaking to Herald, Panjim Police Inspector Siddhant Shirodkar said, “The workers violated the collector’s order. As per the order they should have protested at Azad Maidan, but they refused to go there.”
Workers gathered outside the CCP office early Tuesday for their demonstration. When police appealed to the workers to assemble at Azad Maidan, the workers refused to move and blocked the road. “We told the workers to move towards Azad Maidan. They started walking and unexpectedly they halted in the middle of the road, obstructing traffic. We requested them to move from the road, but they refused. So we arrested them,” Shirodkar said.
The workers were booked at Calangute and Anjuna Police Stations. While 111 workers were detained in Calangute station , 204 were kept at Anjuna station. During the entire incident Rane was nowhere near the spot. Police later claimed that he was absconding.
However, Rane’s colleague from the union claimed that he was at Secretariat following up with the Chief Secretary. He was later arrested when he visited Calangute Police Station at the time of the workers’ release.
Rubbishing the allegation about strewing garbage with the CCP premises and damaging vehicles on Monday, Rane said, “We have been targeted by the government and the commissioner. The people who did that nuisance don’t belong to our union. It’s a conspiracy by the government, through our rival union. Police should check the CCTV footage and see who the people are.”
North Goa SP Umesh Gaonkar confirmed that police will verify CCTV footage as well
