New Delhi: The chief executive officer of a jute mill was beaten to death allegedly by workers on the factory premises after he refused to agree to their demand on wages at Bhadreswar in Hooghly district on Sunday.
The incident happened when S K Maheswari, CEO of North Brook Jute Mill, rejected the demand of the factory workers for an increase in the weekly working hours so that they are paid more. As a result, Maheswari was assaulted by frantic workers with iron rods. The mill's general manager and chief security officer were also injured in the incident.
The workers were paid according to the hours put in by them.
The refusal of the CEO to meet the workers' demands led to an altercation and the workers assaulted Maheswari.
The CEO, who suffered seriously injuries, was taken to a private nursing home where he succumbed this afternoon, Hooghly SP Sunil Chowdhury said.
No arrests have been made so far.
"The mill workers had gathered there for a meeting with the management over some of their demands. When Maheswari came out to talk to them, he was attacked and killed by members of BJP's Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and CPI-M's CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions)," Mamata Banerjee said reacting to the development.
Ordering the police to take strong action, Banerjee accused BJP leaders in the state of joining hands with CPI-M goons and creating lawlessness in Bengal. "Ever since the BJP came to power at the Centre, its leaders in the state have been continuously inciting violence. This is not an isolated incident. They have joined hands with CPI-M goons and creating lawlessness in Bengal hoping for political gains. "We will not tolerate this. We have to and we will strongly tackle this. I have ordered a probe into this and asked the police to take strong action," added Banerjee.
Rubbishing Banerjee's charges, CITU leader Shyamal Chakraborty accused the Trinamool government of a witch hunt against the opposition. "The Trinamool has grown apprehensive of everything and to tackle their fear psychosis they have unleashed a witch hunt against the opposition. Every now and then false cases are being filed against CPI-M leaders," said Chakraborty.
BJP leader Tathagata Roy accused the Trinamool of being behind the attack. "Trinamool is toeing the line of the Left Front, and much like the Marxists drove away industry from Bengal, the current regime is also doing everything to ensure industry flees from the state," said Roy.
