Jamshedpur, Sept. 6: Traffic movement went haywire on Jaiprakash Narayan Setu Mango bridge, connecting NH-33 and Mango to city, for over two hours as bandh supporters squatted on the bridge for nearly an hour.
Members of the Savarna Samaj, Jamshedpur unit along with Jharkhand Brahman Shakti Sangh including several women squatted on the bridge at around 10 am disrupting traffic movement on the 800 meter bridge. The agitation was part of the pan-India bandh call in protest against the Parliament passing an amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act that overrode a Supreme Court order diluting it.
�I had an urgent meeting at my office in Sakchi. Usually, it takes only 10 minutes and I started well before 10 am with hopes to reach my office in time, but the traffic jam delay everything. I reached office after 12 noon,� said a Mango resident.
Jamshedpur DSP traffic, Shivender Singh said that the agitators had earlier squatted near the Mango end of the bridge and when we told them to vacate the spot requesting them to consider the plight of the commuters. But the protestors said that they want to be arrested by Sakchi police and moved towards Sakchi end of the Mango bridge and again started the agitation.
Sakchi police station in-charge, Madan Sharma said that the agitators have been arrested and were later released in the evening under PR bond from the Sakchi thana.
Meanwhile, president of Jharkhand Brahman Shakti Sangh, Pawan Pandey said that their agitation was part of the pan-India bandh call in protest against the Parliament passing an amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act that overrode a Supreme Court order diluting it.
On August 9, Rajya Sabha unanimously passed the amendments to the SC/ST Act brought by the ruling government in the monsoon session of Parliament. The amendments include: The bill rules out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs.
No preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval No preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law.
