Three policemen injured in stone pelting by agitated migrant workers at IIT Hyderabad

Peeved over denial of wages,

hundreds of migrant workers working at IIT Hyderabad at Kandi in neighbouring Sangareddy district on Wednesday allegedly attacked some officials of construction companies and threw stones damaging a police vehicle and injuring a Sub-Inspector and two policemen.

The workers who were protesting near a construction site demanded that they be paid wages and allowed to go back to their native places in view of the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, police said.

The migrant workers allegedly pelted stones at police and damaged a police vehicle injuring a Sub-Inspector and two policemen, Sangareddy District Superintendent of Police S Chandrashekar Reddy said.

"A mob of protesting workers initially assaulted some officials of the construction companies and when a police team went to the spot some of them hurled stones at police and damaged glasses of a police vehicle," the police official said.

According to the officials, the labourers accused a construction company involved in the construction activities belonging to the IIT, of not paying wages for March and on top of that the firm asked the workers to resume activity from Wednesday.

Construction activities have been halted in view of the lockdown.

"Additional police force was rushed to the area and the situation has been brought under control," the SP told PTI, adding they were in the process of identifying those responsible for the violence.

Sangareddy District Collector M Hanumantha Rao said the labourers hailing from 10 states, including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, wanted to go back to their native places and their other demand was payment of wages.

The district authorities convened a meeting between the representatives of migrant workers and those from the construction company, he said.

The protesting workers were assured of payment of their outstanding salaries by tomorrow evening from the management side after which they agreed to resume work.

"We will again hold talks with them and after they give their consent the works will be started," the Collector said.

In view of the lockdown, the construction firms have to look after the workers, he said.

"Their main demand is to go back to their native places.After lockdown they were in a dilemma as to what to do.

An undertaking has been taken from the construction company to release theirsalaries," the collector added.

Two construction firms, engaged around 1,600 and 800 workers each from around 10 different states, for second phase construction of buildings of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, officials said.