10 union leaders of Maruti plant held
2 Aug 2012 8:31 AM GMT
Haryana police on Wednesday arrested 10 office bearers of Maruti Suzuki Workers’ Union, including its President Ram Meher and General Secretary Sarabjit Singh, in relation with the violence at the company’s Manesar plant in the north Indian state on 18 July.
‘These 10 office bearers were arrested from Hansi in Hissar district this morning. They were planning to escape to Rajasthan from where they planned to go to Gujarat,’ Haryana Director General of Police Ranjeev Singh Dalal told reporters here.
These 10 workers would be produced at court on Thursday and the police would seek 10 days’ remand, he added.
The other arrested union leaders are Chief Patron Sandeep Dhillon, Vice-President Sohan Kumar, Cashier Suresh Kumar, Legal Advisor Ajmer Singh and Joint Secretary Pawan Kumar along with three Executive Members, Ram Vilas, Amarjeet and Pradeep Kumar.
The police had already arrested two union leaders - Organising Secretary Yogesh Yadav and Executive Member Dhanraj Bhami.
‘With today’s arrests, all the union leaders have been nabbed,’ he said, adding in all 114 workers have been arrested so far in relation to the incident.
Six different teams of Haryana police had raided different places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana states to trace the absconding union leaders, he added. The Haryana government had set up a special investigation team, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravinder Tomar, to probe the incident in which one senior official of the company was killed and 100 others were injured.
In the backdrop of the latest arrest, Dalal said he met Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi and assured him that police will provide all type of security, including area and individuals, at the factory premises.
‘Since all the union leaders are arrested, I have also requested the company to resume production at the plant,’ Dalal said.
In order to check such industrial violence in the IMT Manesar area, 600 policemen have been deployed under the leadership of Yogendra Mehra, Indian Police Service (IPS), he added.
Meanwhile, during the day 91 arrested workers who have been on judicial custody were produced before a local magistrate, who sent them to judicial custody for another 14 days. MSI General Manager (HR) at the Manesar plant Awanish Kumar Dev was charred to death in the arson and violence in the plant in which 100 others were also injured. On 21 July, the company had declared a lockout at the plant citing safety and well being of its employees were paramount.
Meanwhile, Haryana Director General Police Ranjiv Dalal on Wednesday said a battalion of state police would be stationed at Manesar industrial area to instill a sense of security among industries there.
One battalion comprises around 1,000 personnel. The step has been taken to ensure that police are readily available in case of any labour unrest or criminal incident in the industrial area, he said.
The battalion would only help in maintaining law and order in Manesar and would not be used for any other purpose, Dalal said, adding, a suitable place is being searched to station the battalion.
He said that earlier in case of any incident at Manesar, police force had to be rushed from Gurgaon, but after posting a battalion in Manesar, it would be easy to handle any such situation.
WHAT HAPPENED AT MANESAR
LEFT WING ELEMENTS BEHIND VIOLENCE?
The violence at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant on 18 July, in which one senior executive was killed, was the handiwork of ‘extreme left wing elements’, the company’s Chairman R C Bhargava has said.
Appearing in a panel discussion for a TV Channel, he also described the violence as a ‘class attack’.
‘It were these left-wing extreme elements who incited the violence at Maruti. It was a conspiracy which was kept within a small group of people,’ a statement from the channel said, quoting Bhargava.
Terming the incident as ‘pre-planned conspiracy’, he said, ‘It was conceived by a small group of people. These could be extreme left wing elements who want society to change through virtual chaos creation.’
Sources had earlier indicated that the Centre was keen on a probe to find out if the violence in the Maruti plant in Manesar has any Maoist link, though no Naxal link was found prima facie.
Bhargava further said it appeared to be much more than ordinary labour unrest or trade union activity.
‘A certain demand by one worker does not lead to arms and legs of a manager being broken,’ he said, adding the attack was not directed at any one individual.
‘It was like a class attack. It was like we are workers, we will attack anybody who is not a worker,’ he added.
Bhargava also admitted that the company may have made mistakes in its recruitment process while doing the background checks of workers.
‘We cannot rule out that the wrong kind of people got hired,’ he said, while ruling out resuming production till ‘we can ensure safety of managers, supervisors, and even of some workers. They remain at risk’.
‘These 10 office bearers were arrested from Hansi in Hissar district this morning. They were planning to escape to Rajasthan from where they planned to go to Gujarat,’ Haryana Director General of Police Ranjeev Singh Dalal told reporters here.
These 10 workers would be produced at court on Thursday and the police would seek 10 days’ remand, he added.
The other arrested union leaders are Chief Patron Sandeep Dhillon, Vice-President Sohan Kumar, Cashier Suresh Kumar, Legal Advisor Ajmer Singh and Joint Secretary Pawan Kumar along with three Executive Members, Ram Vilas, Amarjeet and Pradeep Kumar.
The police had already arrested two union leaders - Organising Secretary Yogesh Yadav and Executive Member Dhanraj Bhami.
‘With today’s arrests, all the union leaders have been nabbed,’ he said, adding in all 114 workers have been arrested so far in relation to the incident.
Six different teams of Haryana police had raided different places in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana states to trace the absconding union leaders, he added. The Haryana government had set up a special investigation team, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravinder Tomar, to probe the incident in which one senior official of the company was killed and 100 others were injured.
In the backdrop of the latest arrest, Dalal said he met Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi and assured him that police will provide all type of security, including area and individuals, at the factory premises.
‘Since all the union leaders are arrested, I have also requested the company to resume production at the plant,’ Dalal said.
In order to check such industrial violence in the IMT Manesar area, 600 policemen have been deployed under the leadership of Yogendra Mehra, Indian Police Service (IPS), he added.
Meanwhile, during the day 91 arrested workers who have been on judicial custody were produced before a local magistrate, who sent them to judicial custody for another 14 days. MSI General Manager (HR) at the Manesar plant Awanish Kumar Dev was charred to death in the arson and violence in the plant in which 100 others were also injured. On 21 July, the company had declared a lockout at the plant citing safety and well being of its employees were paramount.
Meanwhile, Haryana Director General Police Ranjiv Dalal on Wednesday said a battalion of state police would be stationed at Manesar industrial area to instill a sense of security among industries there.
One battalion comprises around 1,000 personnel. The step has been taken to ensure that police are readily available in case of any labour unrest or criminal incident in the industrial area, he said.
The battalion would only help in maintaining law and order in Manesar and would not be used for any other purpose, Dalal said, adding, a suitable place is being searched to station the battalion.
He said that earlier in case of any incident at Manesar, police force had to be rushed from Gurgaon, but after posting a battalion in Manesar, it would be easy to handle any such situation.
WHAT HAPPENED AT MANESAR
- A riot began after an altercation between workers and managers over a disciplinary incident.
- Factory workers’ union accused Maruti officials of starting the violence and using hired thugs to beat up workers.
- Senior officials were allegedly attacked by workers with iron rods, wooden sticks and unfinished car parts.
- General Manager (HR), Awanish Kumar Dev, was charred to death in the arson.
LEFT WING ELEMENTS BEHIND VIOLENCE?
The violence at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar plant on 18 July, in which one senior executive was killed, was the handiwork of ‘extreme left wing elements’, the company’s Chairman R C Bhargava has said.
Appearing in a panel discussion for a TV Channel, he also described the violence as a ‘class attack’.
‘It were these left-wing extreme elements who incited the violence at Maruti. It was a conspiracy which was kept within a small group of people,’ a statement from the channel said, quoting Bhargava.
Terming the incident as ‘pre-planned conspiracy’, he said, ‘It was conceived by a small group of people. These could be extreme left wing elements who want society to change through virtual chaos creation.’
Sources had earlier indicated that the Centre was keen on a probe to find out if the violence in the Maruti plant in Manesar has any Maoist link, though no Naxal link was found prima facie.
Bhargava further said it appeared to be much more than ordinary labour unrest or trade union activity.
‘A certain demand by one worker does not lead to arms and legs of a manager being broken,’ he said, adding the attack was not directed at any one individual.
‘It was like a class attack. It was like we are workers, we will attack anybody who is not a worker,’ he added.
Bhargava also admitted that the company may have made mistakes in its recruitment process while doing the background checks of workers.
‘We cannot rule out that the wrong kind of people got hired,’ he said, while ruling out resuming production till ‘we can ensure safety of managers, supervisors, and even of some workers. They remain at risk’.
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