MARGAO: There was a major uproar among Margao Municipal Council (MMC) workers on Saturday with the workers’ union led by Anil Shirodkar calling for a pen down strike on Monday if the accused in the complaint filed by sanitary inspector Viraj Arbekar are not arrested by the police.
This is a fall out of the heated arguments exchanged between MMC sanitary inspector Viraj Arbekar and three citizens – Ethel Lobo, Nelson Fernandes and Croydon Madeira – where both parties have pressed serious charges against each other at the Margao Police Station. The incident took place after the MMC council meeting on Friday.
On Saturday, in a bid to ease the tension, the complainant and the counter complainant in the case deposed before the investigating officer at the Margao Police Station where their statements were recorded.
Arbekar in his complaint accused the trio of blocking him and uttering bad words in an abusive language and further pushing him while discharging his duties as sanitary inspector at MMC.
In the counter complaint, Lobo accused Arbekar of pushing her by touching her chest with an intention to outrage her modesty.
Arbekar on Saturday pleaded innocent and said all the facts were before the police and for anyone to see as there was CCTV surveillance in the area. “The allegations are false and baseless. This was in the MMC hall where I work and there were people and journalists present. I was sitting at the meeting and wanted to go to the bathroom urgently. Not only did they forcibly block my path, they pushed me and I am wearing a uniform and was there in my official capacity. This is an assault on a government officer and obstructing my line of duty and this has been taken very seriously in the past and I expect the police to give me justice” said Arbekar.
Reiterating that he had CCTV footage to back his complaint that he was manhandled by the accused and that he had not used his hands at all as all he was doing was trying to leave the hall, Arbekar said that the workers’ union had supported him.
While Arbekar stated that he doesn’t wish for the people to get affected and that the union will have a meeting on Monday to decide their course of action, MMC workers are upset that a co-worker was assaulted at the MMC and have threatened to stop all services including the collection of garbage.
On the other hand, Lobo has countered and said she had hope in the authorities and she will get justice. “If these inspectors and councillors did their work properly we wouldn’t have been compelled to take these steps. For the complaint I have filed, I feel the police must impose and imply all strict measures to curtail the accused. We want and expect justice,” said Lobo refuting the charges against her and the two other accused.
“It’s a fake complaint against us and it is only to suppress us. But we will keep fighting for the right cause,” said Nelson Fernandes who has also been accused by Arbekar.
