Labourer ‘deliberately crushed’ in stone grinding machine
Contractors arrested by police; workers say contractors suspected Imran of planning to establish a labour union.
GUJRANWALA:
A handicapped worker was crushed to death in a stone grinding machine on Wednesday, allegedly by three contractors. They were arrested by the police.
Other workers at the factory, located near Attawa at the GT Road, said that the owners suspected deceased Imran, a resident of Amanabad Mor, of planning with some workers to establish a labour union. They said 10 workers were fired by the factory owners on Wednesday morning, before Imran’s murder.
The police reached the scene after a crowd gathered in front of the factory and started protesting against the owners. Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Mubashir Makin told The Express Tribune that had the police not reached the scene in time and stopped the crowd from taking the law into their own hands, they could have killed the accused – Rana Sohail, Rana Azeem and Rana Naeem. He said the police had registered an FIR against them under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Liaqat, an uncle of the deceased, was the complainant. Aslam, a worker, said that Imran was deaf and dumb. He said he was a simple man and could never get involved in political activities. He said the owners must have planned the murder in advance, “He was asked to work on the grinding machine though he never worked on it,” he said. He added that they asked him to enter the machine and clean it. “They switched on the machine once he was inside. His body was chopped into pieces,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2011.
A handicapped worker was crushed to death in a stone grinding machine on Wednesday, allegedly by three contractors. They were arrested by the police.
Other workers at the factory, located near Attawa at the GT Road, said that the owners suspected deceased Imran, a resident of Amanabad Mor, of planning with some workers to establish a labour union. They said 10 workers were fired by the factory owners on Wednesday morning, before Imran’s murder.
The police reached the scene after a crowd gathered in front of the factory and started protesting against the owners. Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Mubashir Makin told The Express Tribune that had the police not reached the scene in time and stopped the crowd from taking the law into their own hands, they could have killed the accused – Rana Sohail, Rana Azeem and Rana Naeem. He said the police had registered an FIR against them under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Liaqat, an uncle of the deceased, was the complainant. Aslam, a worker, said that Imran was deaf and dumb. He said he was a simple man and could never get involved in political activities. He said the owners must have planned the murder in advance, “He was asked to work on the grinding machine though he never worked on it,” he said. He added that they asked him to enter the machine and clean it. “They switched on the machine once he was inside. His body was chopped into pieces,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2011.