Lady conductor beaten up by panchayat member

KOLLAM: A lady conductor of a Kollam-bound KSTRC bus from Kulathupuzha, was beaten up by a woman panchayat member when it reached the Kannanalloor junction near here on Wednesday morning.  The conductor of Kollam depot, D Sindhu, 36, of Thekkevila was reportedly hit with the elbow by K Jagadamma teacher, 59, Chairperson of Welfare Standing Committee of the Kollam District Panchayat, following a heated argument and threatened that she was ‘politically powerful’ and would initiate police action against her.Speaking to ‘Express’ over phone, Sindhu said that the bus was packed with passengers when it reached the Kannanalloor junction and she asked Jagadamma to move forward to make way for the passengers on the footboard. However, she refused to oblige, leading to a heated debate.Jagadamma then allegedly hit Sindhu on her chest with her elbow thrice. Sindhu fell on her back and got her head hit. She also lost hold of her cash bag.Meanwhile, Jagadamma was also engaged in an argument with another passenger. Other passengers raised protest against her action and some of them accompanied Sindhu to meet the District Transport Officer, when the bus reached the Kollam KSTRC bus stand. Sindhu later sought treatment at the District Hospital here.District Transport Officer lodged a complaint with the Kottiyam Police. Police recorded the statement of Sindhu at the hospital later. Police said that a case had been registered against Jagadamma, under charges of voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty (IPC 332), uttering obscene word in a public place (IPC 294 b) and for mischievous action causing damage (IPC 427).  Jagadamma, a CPI member at the  district panchayat from Veliyam division, when contacted, was not available for giving a statement.