Paradip: Nearly 200 workers of a private edible oil manufacturing company on Monday staged a protest in front of Paradip police station by lying face down on the ground.

The agitating workers reportedly retrenched by the company lied prostrate on the police station premises to register protest against imposition of Section 144 CrPC prohibitory orders at the plant site.

As many as 152 workers, who had been employed at Cargil Limited, the oil firm, were rendered jobless after the company got shutdown on September 15, 2016. Later, the firm was taken over by Adani-Wilmar Private Limited. "After the change in proprietorship, the maintenance work of the new unit had resumed since last month. However, the new ownership did not seek the services of these workers, triggering labour dispute," said additional superintendent of police Bishnu Charan Mishra.

The workers on Monday staged the protest as the police had denied permission to picket in front of the plant. "As prohibitory order had been enforced under Section 144 CrPC, the workers were stopped from staging protest at the plant site for breach of law and order situation," he said. "People have democratic right to stage peaceful protest to assert their lawful rights. However, authorities here colluded with the company to trample our democratic rights," alleged the Cargil Shramik Sangha's general secretary Kedar Sethty.