The police on Tuesday arrested the prime accused in the assault of an Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC) section in-charge at the lalkuan exit gate on the last weekend, making the agitating employees of the corporation withdraw their indefinite strike on Tuesday.
Based on the complaint lodged by UFDC lalkuan section in charge GS Bagadwal at the local Kotwali, the police had lodged a case against Bala for obstruction of Government work, assault and forcefully crossing the Gaula exit gate at lalkuan. He was arrested by the police on Tuesday after which the exit gate at lalkuan was opened for vehicles carrying materials quarried from the Gaula river.
It is pertinent to mention that various anomalies have been revealed recently in the quarrying on Gaula with the mining mafia indulging in various violations.
last week, workers who had refused to load a truck at the exit gate after closing time were beaten up by those in the quarrying business. About a week is left for the closure of the quarrying season due to which those involved in the quarrying business are leaving no stone unturned to quarry the maximum possible quantity of riverbed material.
On Sunday, the UFDC section in charge had halted a tractor for a check at the lalkuan exit gate. The tractor driver Bala had allegedly attempted to exit with the vehicle without showing the valid papers. On being asked to present the papers, the driver had allegedly beaten up Bagadwal and some other corporation employees before fleeing on the tractor.
The UFDC staff had lodged a police complaint and gone on an indefinite period strike demanding arrest of the accused. The strike had brought to a standstill about 700 vehicles that transport materials quarried from the Gaula river causing revenue loss amounting to more than Rs 15 lakh. With Bala’s arrest, traffic through the exit gate resumed with workers ending their strike on Tuesday.