KOLKATA: Cops had to resort to lathicharge to disperse hundreds of police constable job seekers demonstrating outside the state police headquarters at Bhawani Bhavan in Alipore on Monday morning. The protest blocked several key thoroughfares in the heart of south Kolkata, resulting in a traffic logjam across south and central Kolkata for at least two hours.
The protestors from different districts were demanding immediate employment of 6,500-odd young men who had passed police recruitment examination for the post of constable. Majority of them were reportedly handed over joining letters which were held back at the last moment.
According to sources, 8,419 persons had passed the examination last October and 2,871 were already inducted into service following which the employment status got caught in a legal tangle and the Calcutta High Court had put a stay on the recruitment. The case is under hearing at the state administrative tribunal (SAT).
“We cleared physical and written examination followed by an interview in 2019. The result was announced in October 2020. We were told first 4,500 successful candidates would be employed before polls and the rest after that. Thus, 2,871 were employed but then some 400 examinees, who couldn’t clear the exam, filed a case in HC in January 2021,” said Abhijit Baidya, a Shyamnagar resident. Baidya said the court had asked SAT to file a report by April 19.
Around 30 protestors were later arrested.
