Two held for clash at Apollo

Police officials, who were witness to the incident, however, said that there was no manhandling. 8220;The workers did not need to pull out any nurse. One of the nurses told us that she wanted to join the workers but was afraid of angering the management. We offered to escort her to the hospital from the vehicle, but she preferred to join the workers. It was the hospital8217;s security officials who were trying to be overenthusiastic8221;.

When this reporter reached the hospital, the workers had been pushed back by the police beyond the 300-metre mark from the hosptial. They said a nurse was trying to get off from the vehicle and the hospital staff inside the bus tried to stop her. 8220;So a few of us, including some nurses, went forward and the police began lathi-charge. Suddenly a few stones hit a glass wall near the gate. They were being thrown from inside to provoke us. And we are being accused of rioting.8221; According to the striking workers, all the nurses had been asked to vacate their rooms in the hostel since yesterday, and were being forced to stay in the hospital to prevent them from joining the strike.

8220;Both the arrested workers happened to be in the forefront. They bore the brunt of the lathi-charge and were subsequently arrested,8221; a worker said.

The injured include two women security officers, the hospital8217;s finance advisor, the chief security officer and a patient8217;s relative, Raza said. They mostly suffered head injuries and were under intensive care, he said. The police denied reports that a constable had been hurt in the clash.

DCP Pradeep Srivastav said the stand-off between the management and the workers was likely to continue for some time as there had been no attempts yet for talks on their issues of contention.