A protest march and meeting were held on 23 May 2016 at Randhir Verma chowk in Dhanbad by the CPI(ML) and AICCTU district committees to protest against the attack on Uttarakhand State General Secretary KK Bora and the painful death of an electricity worker in Govindpur, Dhanbad district, due to administrative negligence. The protest was joined by people associated with the Dalit Vikas Manch and Haadi Jati Vikas Manch with slogans of “Jai Bheem”.
On 17 May, Santosh Mahto, a daily wage worker was sent to work on a transformer after an electricity wire broke due to the falling of a tree during a storm in Kurchi village of Govindpur block. While he was working on the line, someone turned on the power and Santosh suffered a painful death, after which people spontaneously gheraoed the electricity office. The management tried to put pressure on acceptance of Rs 2.5 lakhs as compensation. Meanwhile CPI(ML) leader Com. Kartik Kumar arrived on the spot and pointed out that as this was a case of accidental death during duty, it is mandatory to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation, employment for one family member, and a case under 302 against the guilty officer. The talks failed, with the police resorting to lathi charge and taking away the body of the victim. The next day a case of damaging state property, stoning a police jeep, and blocking the road was registered against CPI(ML) leaders and other people.
The protest march and meeting echoed with protests against these attacks on the working class—the attack on workers’ leader KK Bora and the ‘managerial’ murder of worker Santosh Mahto. A memorandum was submitted to the DC demanding immediate arrest of KK Bora’s attackers, strict action against the police personnel who tried to forcibly arrest him, and fulfillment of workers’ demand. The demands also included action under 302 against the officers responsible for Santosh Mahto’s death, 5 lakhs compensation and employment for one family member, and immediate revoking of all false cases against ML leaders and other people. The DC of Dhanbad gave an assurance that the false cases would be revoked.
On 30 May a dharna was held at the Govindpur block HQ with the above demands and also protesting the scams and irregularities in ration cards. A protest meeting was held in Ranchi demanding action in the corruption in compensation for the displaced people affected by the construction of the Ranchi-Tata national highway into a 4 lane road, corruption in MNREGA, and arrest and punishment of the guilty in the KK Bora attack.
Protests were also held in Argadda, Ramgarh, and Bokaro for rights of steel workers and punishment for the attackers of KK Bora.
