On 30th July 2003, in a factory in Wazirpur Industrial Area in Delhi, three men fell upon a rickshaw puller. They beat him up mercilessly with rods and steel cutting scissors. Two other rickshaw pullers were also beaten up along with him even as they tried to offer explanations.

The three men were Surender and Subhash, owners of A 103/7 and the third their contractor Devender. The rickshaw pullers were used by them, as by other owners in the area, to transport their finished products to other centres. The owners suspected the three men of theft of steel plates and were ‘meteing’ out instant justice. In the process, Lallan of Bihar fell unconscious. After that they laid him on a block and beat his chest with a ‘batta’. Dumping him there in the company of Kaliprasad, they marched “robber” Pappu off to the police station.

Other rickshaw pullers and local jhuggi dwellers brought out the other two and took them to the hospital where doctors declared Lallan “brought dead”. It turned the tide as local police registered a case under Section 302. They arrested the contractor but claimed they ‘could not find’ the two owners.

Unrest swept through the rickshaw pullers of the area. Barely 15 days earlier, in a factory accident killing one worker, the owner went scot free. This is the rule in poorly organized Wazirpur.

However, under IFTU leadership a demonstration was held on Thursday 31st at the Police Station and the police were given 48 hours to arrest the guilty. Otherwise IFTU threatened a gherao of the DCP and a bandh on Monday morning.

Seeing the preparations by IFTU in the area, including pamphlet distribution, area meetings and the wave of enthusiasm and anger among the rickshaw pullers and workers, police was forced to move. On Sunday night, despite the massive gathering of owners at the police station, police arrested the two murderers. Even here police helped them; seeing the bruises on the other two, an additional case under Sec. 307 should have been registered but was not.

With confirmation of the arrests, the programme for Monday morning was called off and instead a meeting was held in the morning announcing the arrests. Pamphlets are also being distributed in the area.

There is amazement and vigour in the area that struggle has actually succeeded in getting the owners arrested.

Lallan Kamath has left behind an old father and mother, a wife and three children. Being a rickshaw puller meant he had no regular income, no PF and will be entitled to no gratuity or social security. IFTU is organizing the active rickshaw pullers and approaching the Delhi Labour Minister on the matter. Their organization will also restrain the police from constantly harassing the witness and active members for participating in forcing the arrests.