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Bengal home secretary to probe jute mill violence

The West Bengal government on Monday set up a one-member commission to investigate the violence in the Baranagar Jute Mill where two executives were burnt alive after a worker was shot dead on Saturday.

Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, who had already ordered a high-level inquiry into the violence in the mill on Saturday, told reporters that Home Secretary Saurin Roy would conduct the commission and submit its report by 45 days.

"The commission will investigate the situation leading to the macabre incident that cost three lives, besides making a review of the situation prevailing in the jute industry and overall employer-employee relations," the chief minister said.

Bhattacharjee said the incident was an 'isolated one' and would not affect the pace of industrialisation in the state or precipitate 'any crisis' in the industry as a whole.

Two top executives -- Jagdamba Prasad Tiwary and General Manager (personnel) Gautam Ghosh -- were lynched and burnt alive after Chief Executive Officer Tiwary shot dead a worker, Bhola Das, during an altercation inside the mill over the suspension of two employees.

Bhattacharjee said Labour Minister Santi Ranjan Ghatak was holding talks with the mill management at Baranagar to persuade them to withdraw the indefinite suspension of work ordered by owner Govind Sharda on Sunday.

The Rapid Action Force continues to patrol the area. Meanwhile, the bodies of all three victims were handed over to their family members after post-mortem.

All 27 persons arrested in connection with the violence were remanded to judicial custody till January 24 by the Barrackpore court.

In a press release on Monday, the Indian Chamber of Commerce expressed shock at the violent unrest at the mill and urged Bhattacharjee to take speedy action to punish the culprits.

"We hang our head in shame that such incidents can happen in West Bengal. The business community is shocked by the turn of events, where armed hooligans can forcefully enter and ransack executive offices, leading to the unfortunate events that took place," ICC president C K Dhanuka said.

Dhanuka said such heinous incidents would deal a 'severe blow' to the state's business environment and reverse the positive trends of the recent past.

"Business and industry will once again lose confidence in the ability of the state to provide a positive work environment, and the consequences of this event can be disastrous for the future," he warned. The incident would not only result in new investors turning away from the state, but "we will be helping another round of flight of capital".

"Let us not be blind to these harsh realities and take refuge in political rhetoric," he said and called upon trade unions to take serious note of the incident and ask their local authorities not to indulge in such acts.

"Matters can be resolved amicably with the employer, without such violent activity," the ICC president said.

PTI

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