Odishatv Bureau

Rourkela: All the 224 Orind workers including independent MLA George Tirkey were today granted conditional bail by a local court, three days after being arrested while staging road blockade on NH-23 at Lathikata near here. Orind management, workers and governement official to hold dialogue on October 19 to resolve the dispute.

Sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) S Sujata granted bail to Tirkey and others, lodged at the special jail here, on the condition that they would not stage road blockade and would maintain peace in the area. The conditional bail was granted on a bond of Rs 5,000 each and one surety.

Led by Tirkey, legislator from Biramitrapur in Sundargarh district, workers of a refractory unit and their family members had blocked the NH-23 at Lathikata when they were arrested as police cleared the blockade on Friday. Subsequently, 156 of them were released and 224 protesters including Tirkey had been sent to jail in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, several workers and their family members had started a fresh road blockade yesterday at Lathikata in support of the demand for payment of wages to Orind workers for the last 14 months and payment of statutory benefit to retired, deceased and resigned employees.

A lockout had been declared in May in the factory where production had stopped several months ago with workers claiming non-payment of wages and other dues for last 14 months.

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