The Beech Tea Garden abruptly shuttered its operations on Monday, leaving approximately 2,500 permanent and temporary workers unemployed. The tea garden authority cited security concerns for the management, attributing the closure to external elements and certain anti-social figures within the garden.
The closure notice explicitly mentioned the insecurity of the garden manager and officials, who had been attacked by tea workers taking the law into their own hands. The office was vandalised, and over Rs 1,70,000 were reported stolen, leading the authorities to make the difficult decision to close the garden. Chinmoy Dhar, North Bengal Chairman of the Tea Association of India, stated: “The manager was subjected to continuous torture for 4 hours, risking his life on February 21. Although we could have issued a garden closure notice immediately, we chose to give the workers a two-day opportunity. A tripartite meeting was held at the Joint Labour Commissioner’s office in Alipurduar on Sunday but unfortunately the workers could not assure the manager’s safety thus leading to the unavoidable closure notice.”
The plantation authority filed a complaint with the police regarding the attack on the manager, naming several accused, though no arrests have been made. Nakul Sonar, chairman of the Trinamool Cha Bagan Sramik Union, criticised the owners, expressing hope for the garden’s swift reopening through administration intervention.