Coimbatore: The employees of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) went on a brief strike after two Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel slapped a TNSTC bus conductor when he asked them to buy bus tickets while they were returning to their camp at Podanur from the city.
After the incident, the bus driver stopped the vehicle and informed his fellow workers. Subsequently, other bus drivers also halted their vehicles, with passengers, in Podanur and joined the protest.
Four RPF men boarded the TNSTC (route number 4 – Thudiyalur -Podanur) at Ukkadam Bus Stand to go to their camp at Podanur. When bus conductor M Muthukumar asked them to buy tickets, two officials did not respond and the other two responded in Hindi. A heated argument rose between the bus conductor and the RPF men after which two RPF men slapped Muthukumar.
Immediately, a few TNSTC bus drivers and conductors stopped the bus service in Podanur and surrounding areas in order to show support to the bus conductor. The drivers and conductors also demanded the police to take stringent action against the RPF men.
Muthukumar lodged a complaint with Podanur police, who registered a case against the RPF men Ajaykumar, 25, of Haryana and Sonu Deotia, 25, of Uttar Pradesh.
The duo was booked under Section 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code. Police arrested the duo and they were immediately released on bail. The TNSTC staff later withdrew their strike.
