Guru Gobind Singh Refinery ---Workers turn violent as 2 get trapped in landslide

Guru Gobind Singh Refinery
Workers turn violent as 2 get trapped in landslide
Vehicles torched, shops closed
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Phulokhari (Bathinda), April 7

Violence was witnessed at Guru Gobind Singh Refinery that is under construction as a mob went on the rampage after two labourers got stuck in a landslide this afternoon. Rumours and apprehension that more workers could have been trapped made the agitated workers run amok and they torched two vehicles besides damaging several others.
To control the situation, a large number of cops led by the SSP Bathinda rushed to the spot and turned the refinery into a fortress. The construction work was suspended and the entry of everybody was restricted.
The details emerging from the refinery terrified the labourers in their quarters nearby. Fearing that the situation might worsen, they ran away and all shopkeepers outside the refinery rolled up their shutters.
It is learnt that labourers working with the IVRCL, a construction company, were put on job of laying of a crude oil pipeline when the soil caved in and two labourers got stuck in it.
One of them was rescued, while the other, namely, Lakhan Sarkar, was pulled out after a few minutes. Suspecting that many others were buried inside, the labourers started raising a hue and cry.
They went on the rampage when the refinery authorities tried to take the injured labourer out of the refinery in an ambulance. They intercepted the vehicle and damaged it. Meanwhile, some of them partially torched a hydra crane, that was digging a trench at the spot.
Things became so unruly that the agitating workers listened to no one and immediately started pelting some truck-trailers parked nearby with stones and damaged their windshields and panes. Meanwhile, some agitators torched a Tata Sumo that arrived there and started raising anti-establishment slogans.
Meanwhile, the management of the refinery called up the civil and police administration of Bathinda that reached the spot hurriedly and sealed all gates and turned the refinery into a fortress to bring the situation under control.
The injured labourer Lakhan Sarkar was then rushed to a private hospital but terming his condition as critical, the media was not allowed to see him.
After repeated attempts, the HR manager of the refinery, Ravi Yadav, answered the phone call made by this correspondent and confirmed the incident late in the evening. He said the incident was the result of rumour-mongering indulged in by miscreants who spread the word that a large number of labourers had got buried in the landslide.
“The injured labourer was given proper first-aid assistance and now he is stable as confirmed by the doctors of the hospital. Everything has returned to normalcy and work has been restored,” added Yadav.
SSP, Bathinda, Sukhchain Singh Gill, said, “Acting upon the statement of some eyewitnesses, about 15-20 persons have been booked under various sections. We have initiated the process to identify all accused in the incident.”