Family gets ‘due’ after death, breaks fast

The Hulgunde family ended their one-month hunger strike on Wednesday after the building contractor they were in dispute with agreed to pay them Rs 3 lakh in unpaid wages. Mahendra Lalan, the proprietor of Ankit Construction, paid less than the Rs 4.78 lakh the Hulgundes had initially demanded in outstanding payments to 190 labourers of the Vadari tribe, who built three petrol pumps in Thane district in 2000.

Though the family started agitating in the first week of May, the protest took a dramatic turn on Monday when 35-year-old Anna Hulgunde, otherwise known as Maruti, died, purportedly while taking part in the hunger strike.

Afterwards, the agitation took on a political hue with the Republican Party of India (Athavale) supporting their demand for compensation. Raju Hulgunde, brother of the deceased, accepted a symbolic glass of sweet lime juice in the presence of Superintendent of Police, (Thane Rural) Ramrao Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Suresh Suryavanshi and resident Deputy Collector Bharat Shitole on Wednesday afternoon. The Collector, I.S. Chahal, has assured Anna Hulgunde’s family Rs 2 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.