Lucknow, Nov 9 (IANS): More than 200 female contractual employees of the UP 112 emergency helpline have been booked for rioting in Lucknow.

The employees have been staging a protest for job security and a salary increase in the state capital.

On Wedensday, the Lucknow Police booked five identified and 200 unidentified female contractual workers from UP 112 for their involvement in a sit-in protest that had been ongoing since Monday.

These women are demanding job security and a wage hike outside the UP 112 headquarters.

An FIR has been filed by Sub-Inspector Dhirendra Pratap Singh, who was on patrol duty with a constable when he encountered the protest.

The demonstrators had allegedly taken to the streets, blocking passage and raising anti-government slogans.

Singh immediately reported the situation to the control room, leading to the deployment of lady constables and women officers in an attempt to persuade the protesters to clear the main road.

Despite these efforts, the protesters remained resolute.

The Additional Deputy General of .P 112, Ashok Singh, intervened by assuring the protesters that their jobs would not be jeopardised.

Nevertheless, the women persisted with their protest.

As a result, they were relocated to a designated protest site at Ambedkar Udyan the following day.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone, Shashank Singh, stated that the protesters were blocking a major thoroughfare and have been charged under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 188 (assembly of more than five), 283 (obstruction of public passage), and 341 (wrongful restraint).

Meanwhile, the state government has removed Ashok Singh.