PF staffers stuck in hot cellar in bid to escape hail of stones

Monday turned out to be a horrific day for staff at the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Singasandra, in southern Bengaluru.

It all started at 9.30 am when nearly 5,000 garment workers converged at Bommanahalli Circle in protest against the new rules on provident fund withdrawal. Within no time, traffic on the busy intersection was blocked.

The police were caught off guard and pleaded with the protesters to leave the place. But the protesters didn’t budge. Two hours later, the inspector of the jurisdictional Parappana Agrahara police station and two constables rushed to the EPFO office and requested the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (officer in-charge), Amardeep Mishra, to address the protesters and alleviate their concerns. The officer took time to agree.

Mishra went with the police on a motorcycle and reached Bommanahalli Circle around 12.30 pm. But just as he left the office, a 4,000-strong crowd, most of them women, arrived at the EPFO office and started raising slogans. It left a short while later. Around 40 minutes later, another crowd arrived and started throwing stones at the office. The building’s glass facade was fully damaged.

Police quickly barricaded the area and caned the protesters, forcing them to retreat. Nearly 200 EPFO employees, almost half of them women, were stunned at the sudden turn of events, said a male staffer. The women were quickly escorted to the basement while men remained on upper floors.

“We were busy with our office work when around 11.30 am, some of our colleagues rushed in and asked us to go the basement. When we asked about what happened, they said a huge crowd had gathered outside the office,” said a female staffer who requested anonymity.

“As we walked to the basement, we could see a crowd of thousands raising slogans outside. We were locked up in the basement and all of a sudden, the crowd started throwing stones. That’s when we understood that the situation was dangerous.”

She continued, “We had our heart in our mouths. We never imagined we would face something so horrific. It was too scary. Luckily, the police prevented them from entering the building.”

During their confinement, the women staffers could neither use restroom nor have lunch. “We were scared to use the restroom, as people were throwing stones and we feared they would hit us. Fortunately, no one was injured. We had to skip lunch. The basement was humid because of the hot weather. We could neither sit nor stand,” said another woman staffer.

The woman said they feared the crowd would keeping coming until evening. But the fear proved unfounded. Around 3 pm, the staffers were asked to leave the premises. One by one, they started leaving. But the women remained stuck as most of them commute by bus. Male colleagues helped them leave the office and reach home safely.

But the journey back home wasn’t safe either. “We had to use interior roads. We feared the crowd would recognise us and attack us.”