60 state employees taken into custody in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jun 9 (UNI) About 60 Jammu and Kashmir government employees were taken into custody today after they made an abortive attempt to block the road near civil secretariat when Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was leaving from his office.

Thousands of employees under the banner of Employees Joint Action Committee (EJAC) assembled near the exhibition ground here this morning to protest against the state government's failure to accept their demands, which included rise in retirement age from 58 years to 60 years and regularisation of services of adhoc, contractual and daily wagers who had completed seven years in service.

Later, they marched in a procession towards Civil Secretariat.

However, when they reached the main road leading to the Secretariat, police swung into action and stopped them. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the employees, raising slogans against state government' and insisted that they should be allowed to move ahead.

Police had a tough time to control the employees who rushed towards the fly-over when Mr Azad was leaving the Secretariat this afternoon. They made an abortive bid to stop the vehicles of Mr Azad's convoy.

Later, police arrested about 60 employees and bundled them in waiting police vehicles.

A spokesman of the EJAC said the number of employees this time was less as the majority of employees could not reach because of strike by transporters.

UNI BAS JT BST1337