Transco contract staff canned during protest

HYDERABAD: Police thrashed the contract employees of power utility services who were protesting for the redressal of their demands in front of Vidyut Soudha at Somajiguda. Traffic on the Khairathabad-Punjagutta road came to halt for an hour. Nearly 300 contract employees led by the United Electricity Employees Union of AP Transco staged a protest in front of the Vidyut Soudha demanding fulfillment of nearly 30,000 vacant posts with the contract employees and also a hike in their wages. A scuffle ensued between Panjagutta police and the protestors. The protestors reportedly tried to push away Punjagutta assistant commissioner of police J Subbarami Reddy.Police took 290 of them into preventive custody and let them off later.