| 100 workers held over violence in Maruti plant |
MANESAR Police on Thursday arrested 100 workers of the Maruti Suzuki’s plant in Manesar in connection with Wednesday’s violence in which a senior company official was killed and 50 others were injured.
The charred body of the official, who was caught in the violence triggered by a scuffle over suspension of an employee after a heated exchange of words, was identified as that of Awanish Kumar Dev, general manager, human resources, at the plant.
In Chandigarh, Haryana Industry Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said that nearly 100 people had been arrested so far. “They have been arrested for various charges, including murder, attempt to murder and destruction of property,” the minister said.
Haryana Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery said that taking a serious view of the incident of violence at Maruti’s Manesar plant, the state government has formed a special investigation team under Assistant Commissioner of Police, Gurgaon, Ravinder Tomar, to investigate the matter.
In order to maintain law and order at the plant, 1,200 policemen have been deployed in and around the area, DCP Maheshwar Dayal said. Maruti Suzuki management attributed violence in the plant to an orchestrated act of mob and said such acts of violence have implications beyond one company or region.
“They are negative trigger for existing companies and regions across the country as also for prospective investors and job seekers,” the company said in a statement.
Maruti Suzuki, which witnessed strikes on three occasions last year, has already announced plans to set up a new plant in Gujarat at an investment of Rs40,000 million, a move which was interpreted as coming against the backdrop of violence in the region.
Maruti Suzuki said both its plants in Manesar campus were closed on Thursday and it would shortly announce its decision on the next steps with regard to resuming operations in these facilities.
Referring to the problem in the unit, it said by any account it was not an industrial relations problem over wages or working conditions.
“Rather, it is an orchestrated act of mob violence at a time when operations had been normal over the past many months,” the statement said.
The company said violence at the plant broke out while negotiations were on between the management and the union for reinstatement of a worker who was “suspended for beating up a supervisor.”
“The first act of the mob was to forcibly shut the main gate and prevent managers from leaving the premises after working hours,” the statement said.
The mob targeted supervisors, managers and executives in different parts of the factory. They also ransacked offices, broke glass panes and wantonly damaged property. Finally they set offices on fire, it added.
The company said it would give medical attention the injured while extending whatever support possible to their families.
None of the leaders of Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union (MSWU) could be directly contacted for their reaction.
The union, however, refuted the company’s allegations and said instead of taking action against the supervisor who was involved in a scuffle with a shop floor worker “the management immediately suspended the worker concerned without any investigation.”
Meanwhile, Japan on Thursday condemned the violence at the Manesar plant and said it hoped that Haryana government would bring to book the culprits.
“We strongly hope that the State of Haryana would administer, according to law, prompt and just punishment to the perpetrators and effectively enforce law and order so that such incidence would not be repeated,” the Embassy of Japan said in a statement.
Agencies
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