GUWAHATI: AT least five people sustained bullet injuries when the owner of a tea estate in Assam and his brother opened fire on a group of labourers who had gheraoed the duo protesting measly bonus. Several others were injured while trying to escape.
The incident occurred at Bogidhola Tea Estate in eastern Assam’s Golaghat district. The police have detained Sudhir Roy, the owner, and his brother Samit Roy. They had fired from a licensed gun and a pistol.
The police said the wounded labourers were rushed to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital. One of the injured was stated to be critical.
“The incident was related to Durga Puja bonus. The workers had been demanding 14 per cent bonus while the management was willing to pay only 8.33 per cent. Though the matter was not yet settled, the management released 8.33 per cent bonus last week. Then the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (a farmers’ group) got involved and instigated the workers, leading to the incident,” deputy superintendent of police, Partha Pratim Saikia, said.
“We detained the owner and his brother after rescuing them from the mob. They could be arrested. While the gun used in the incident has been seized, the pistol was taken away by the workers. They said they would deposit it with the police, but haven’t done so as yet,” he said.
Assam has a history of bloody conflicts between tea garden workers and the management. In 2013, irate labourers had burnt alive the owner of a tea estate and his wife in Tinsukia district. In 2007, the owner of a tea estate in Golaghat had been similarly killed.