West Bengal's jute sector has been suffering from dwindling demand.Reuters
Furious employees at a jute mill in the Indian state of West Bengal killed their CEO after he allegedly rejected their demand to increase weekly working hours so that they get more wages.
H K Maheshwari, the 68-year-old CEO of North Brook Jute Mill in Hooghly district, died on the way to hospital after he was beaten by angry factory workers.
The incident took place hours before the mill management and workers were scheduled to discuss reduction of working hours.
The employees thrashed Maheshwari with iron rods and pelted stones at him after he refused to accept the workers' demand, according to local media reports.
Two other officers also suffered injuries in the attack, and were taken to a local hospital and released after treatment.
Four people have been arrested so far in connection with the attack.
The mill was allegedly suffering from lower orders, and wanted to reduce the working hours. It has already been operating only for eight hours per day over the past few weeks.
The management wanted to scale down operations by running the plant three days a week or five hours a day, but the employees represented by eight trade unions wanted the mill to function for at least five days a week.
In January 2001, two officials at a jute mill at Baranagar in West Bengal were thrashed and burned alive as workers protested against the suspension of two workers.
Condemning the death, the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) said the incident had put a question mark on the future of the ailing jute industry in West Bengal.
Former IJMA president and industrialist Sanjay Kajaria said there was an urgent need to remove misunderstanding and tension between the managements and workers of jute mills.
West Bengal's jute sector has been suffering from poor financial conditions amid dwindling demand and labour problems, according to analysts.
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