From rxpgnews.com
Lawyers, rail staff on indefinite strike in Jabalpur
By IANS,
Mar 22, 2007 - 5:05:33 PM
Bhopal, March 22 - Lawyers and railway staff in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur town struck work Thursday demanding action against each other, a day after 50 people were injured in a clash over an advocate's five-year-old son being fined for travelling without a ticket.
Heavy police force was deployed outside the Jabalpur Divisional Railway office to ensure that Wednesday's violence was not repeated.
Railway staff went on an indefinite strike demanding action against 42 lawyers who ransacked railway property. In a tit for tat action, lawyers, who blockaded roads, denied the charge and also went on strike saying punitive action must be taking against the erring railway staff.
Some railway staff have been kept out of the strike to ensure that train movement is not affected.
More than 50 people were injured in the clash that occurred at the Jabalpur station Wednesday evening when TTE - Kamal Patel imposed a fine for ticketless travel on lawyer Suresh Mishra's five-year-old son.
Mishra in turn filed a complaint of loot with the government railway police. The situation worsened when a group of lawyers reached the station to inquire about the action taken on Mishra's complaint.
Railway staff also gathered in strength and soon it was a free for all. The injured included 19 lawyers, 22 railway employees and nine policemen.
Both sides blame each other.
'Our strike will be called off only when action is taken against the erring railway staff and GRP personnel. If authorities fail to take action by the evening, the strike would be extended to all the district courts in the state,' Jabalpur District Bar Association President R.K. Saini told IANS over the phone.
The railway staff has also dug in its heels and threatened to intensify the agitation if the lawyers responsible for the chaos are not put behind bars.
'It was the lawyers who were at fault. But false allegations are being made against our staff by lawyers who are used to speaking lies,' said B.K. Utrapati, general secretary of the West Central Rail Employees Union.
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