‘He was on brink of new life’: Anguish after 23-year-old dies in CISF lathicharge at Bokaro Steel Plant job protest
“The CISF personnel and officials responsible for my son’s death must be arrested and face legal action. I have lost my son to a long-pending fight,” his father Veeru Mahto told The Indian Express.
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Protesters at the Bokaro General Hospital (Credit: Shubham Tigga)For the family of Prem Prasad Mahto, the 23-year-old B.Tech graduate who died in state action during a protest at the Bokaro Steel Plant, the memory of his engagement late last year is still fresh in their minds. Scheduled to get married later this month, Prem was part of a group of over 100 protesters demanding jobs for the youth whose families got displaced by the steel plant when he was allegedly struck on the head in a lathicharge by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
“The CISF personnel and officials responsible for my son’s death must be arrested and face legal action. I have lost my son to a long-pending fight,” his father Veeru Mahto told The Indian Express.
Fifteen others who were allegedly wounded in protests – one critically. Led by Visthapit Apprentice Sangh (VAS), the protests that were meant to demand jobs for families of those who were displaced when the Bokaro steel was first set up in the 60s took a violent turn Friday when protestors broke through barricades near the main gate, allegedly prompting the CISF to lathicharge.
Prem’s father Veeru Mahto and friend Shambhunath Mahto at Bokaro General Hospital (Credit: Shubham Tigga)
While Prem was killed, one other wounded protester is currently in the ICU at the Bokaro General Hospital,
The alleged CISF action led to intensified protests and a city-wide shutdown for 24 hours, prompting the district administration to impose restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Protesters also gathered at the hospital.
“A three-member inquiry committee had been formed to investigate the issue and the order had been issued to arrest the BSL’s Chief General Manager Har Mohan Jha,” Bokaro Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadhav said after the incident.
The CISF and SAIL refused to comment on the issue.
The issue and the protests
A Public Sector Undertaking under the Steel Authority of India Limited, the Bokaro Steel Plant was conceptualised in collaboration with the Soviet Union in 1965 and finally began operating in 1972, eventually merging with SAIL.
According to Sahdev Sao, a member of the VAS – the organisation spearheading the protest – the government had promised employment opportunities to 20,000 youth when 34,000 acres of land was acquired for the plant in 1967-68.
Sao claimed that in 2016, after decades of unmet promises, protests intensified, leading the government to promise jobs to 4,328 displaced youths.
“Between 2016 and 2022, only 1,500 were given apprenticeships in a phased manner. Over time, even that went down as more and more people aged out,” one protester claims.
According to his family, Prem, an engineering graduate who had studied in Bengaluru, was preparing to take his Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for a postgraduate engineering programme. On April 3, Prem joined the protest to demand a job at the plant.
When the protests escalated, the CISF allegedly resorted to lathicharge. Prem, who was struck in the head, collapsed on the spot and died during treatment at a local hospital, his family says.
Other protesters too claim to be struck in the state action. “I was dragged and beaten,” Shambhunath Mahto, a friend of the deceased and one of the injured protestors, said. He’s currently at Bokaro General Hospital. “Over 100 lathis rained on my back. While trying to protect my head, I ended up injuring two fingers.”
On Saturday, as the city slowly staggered back to normality, Prem’s family met the district administration to discuss a list of demands — including a permanent job to a member of the Mahto family. BJP’s Dhanbad MP Dulu Mahto attended the meeting.
Addressing the media outside the hospital, the MP said that the administration has offered Rs 50 lakh compensation to the family, and promised to employ all 1,500 displaced youths in a phased manner — with 50 appointments every month.
“The wounded protesters will be given a compensation of Rs 20,000,” he said.
Bokaro Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadhav, however, said that the job offered could not be a permanent one “as Mahto was not a regular employee”. “These are not issues that can be resolved at the district level. The matter involves intervention from both the central and state governments,” Jadhav said.
But the family remains unsatisfied with the offer. “We demand a permanent job for a family member. We do not accept the outcome of the meeting,” Prem’s uncle Nirmal Mahto said.
The VAS has warned that protests will escalate after Ram Navami if demands are not met. Meanwhile, with Prem’s body being sent for post-mortem, his family is waiting to receive it to conduct last rites.
“We lost a young man on the brink of starting a new life,” uncle Nirmal Mahto said, his voice shaking with emotions.
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