Govt employees, police clash in Srinagar; over 100 detained

Hundreds of government employees today made an abortive attempt to 'gherao' civil secretariat here to protest the alleged failure of the government to fulfil their demands including enhancement of retirement age.
Over 100 employees were detained as police used batons and water canons to keep the protesting employees away from the secretariat - the seat of Jammu and Kashmir government, officials said.
The employees, who had struck work in response to the call given by Joint Consultative Committee for the day, assembled at Exhibition Crossing in the heart of the city and tried to march towards the nearby Secretariat, they said.

However, their attempt was scuttled by police personnel who have been deployed in strength in the area, the officials said adding over 100 protesting employees including Chairman of a faction of Employees Joint Action committee Abdul Qayoom Wani and JCC spokesman Farooq Ahmad Trali were taken into preventive custody, the officials said.
Two employees were injured in the lathicharge and one of them was shifted to Bones and Joint Hospital for treatment, official sources said.
They said the clash between the employees and the police badly affected normal activities and resulted in massive traffic jam in parts of the city including Srinagar-Airport road for several hours.