KOLKATA: Padma Shri awardee teacher Kazi Masum Akhtar and his woman colleague Swati Banerjee were allegedly assaulted and abused when they confronted construction workers after debris from an under-construction high-rise fell on them while they were returning from census duty in North Kolkata on Friday.Akhtar, headmaster of Haranath High School in Baghbazar, and Banerjee, an assistant teacher at the school, were walking along Jatindra Mohan Avenue near Shyambazar AV School around 5 pm when chunks of cement and bricks fell from the under-construction high-rise, hitting them on the head.Banerjee alleged that the construction site did not have safety nets to prevent debris from falling onto the busy road. She also pointed to exposed iron rods protruding from the site perimeter.“We were walking back after completing our census work when heavy debris rained down on us,” Banerjee stated in her complaint.When the two teachers confronted the workers, the latter allegedly turned hostile. Banerjee said she took out her mobile phone to record the site and the workers’ conduct, but one of them tried to snatch the phone and forcibly stop her from recording. The teachers were allegedly subjected to verbal abuse and intimidation during the altercation. Banerjee said the incident left her humiliated and that her modesty was compromised during the scuffle.She submitted a complaint and photographs of the site and their injuries to Shyampukur PS, seeking that it be treated as an FIR. A case was subsequently registered. On Sunday, TOI found safety nets installed along the construction site. Police could not ascertain whether they had been in place on Friday or were added after the incident.
