Violence in Maruti Plant: Haryana govt assured to take strict action against culprit

Amid threat to shift Maruti plant to somewhere else from Gurgaon, Haryana, the Chief Minister of state Bhupinder Singh Hooda Saturday said that strict action against would be taken whom found guilty in the violence that erupted at Maruti's Manesar plant in Haryana.

"Let the probe and inquiries get over, the SIT (Special Investigation Team) has taken up the investigation; whoever is found guilty will be dealt with strictly," Hooda told the media here.

Hooda said it was unfortunate that violence had occurred in the Manesar plant.

"Investigations are on and law will take its own course," he added.

Hooda's remark came a day after speculation that Maruti Udyog Ltd is looking to shift its pant from Gurgaon to somewhere else on the line of Tata Nano's plant was shift from Singur to Sanand (Gujarat).

However, Maruti and its partner Suzuki has denied this speculation.

A violence erupted in Maruti's Manesar plant in which five portions of the plant including security room and control room were set fire and a senior management official was killed in the violence. The workers also destroyed documents from the HR department. The police have arrested 100 accused.

According to management sources, some senior officials of the company were severely beaten up by the workers.

On the contrary, workers alleged that a supervisor made a casteist remark against a Dalit worker.

An altercation between a supervisor and a worker is said to have triggered the incident.

The worker reportedly slapped his senior and was suspended, following which the workers resorted to violence and arson.

Maruti, in a statement, has accused the workers for starting the fire, and injuring at least 40 executives and managers. The statement has alleged that the union had tried to prevent the management from taking disciplinary action against the worker who slapped his senior, and that they had held the executives hostage in the factory.

Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union (MSWU) general secretary Sarabjeet Singh has claimed that when workers protested against the supervisor's alleged remarks, management officials misbehaved with them and suspended the worker in question.

Last year, Maruti Suzuki had witnessed three separate instances of labour unrest at the same plant, which mainly produces the Swift, causing a total production loss of about 83,000 units.

--With ANI inputs--