Fourteen persons have been arrested by the Rajasthan police in connection with the clash between them and workers of a multinational AC manufacturing unit in Neemrana. The clash happened on Tuesday during a rally organised as part of the two-day all-India strike called by several trade unions.
The accused were produced before a court on Thursday and sent to jail.
Hundreds booked
Shahjahanpur Station House Officer sub-inspector Jai Prakash said several hundred workers, including 17 who are named, have been booked on charges of rioting, preventing public servants from discharge of duty and attempt to murder under the Indian Penal Code, among other charges.
“We have arrested 14 people so far, including a few of those named. All the accused were produced before a court on Thursday and remanded in judicial custody,” said Mr. Prakash.
In a related development, a four-member fact-finding team of labour rights activists visited the area on Thursday.
The clash broke out when around 2,000 workers, who had gathered outside the Daikin factory around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, tried to raise their union’s flag outside the company.
The protesters claimed the police resorted to unprovoked lathi-charge and fired tear-gas shells when they tried to unfurl the flag. However, the police denied these allegations.
Mr. Prakash said the striking workers tried to enter the premises forcefully to stop the employees inside from working and that the police had to use mild force to contain them. He claimed the agitated workers threw stones at police personnel, causing injuries to them.
Claiming that Tuesday’s police action was an attempt to muzzle their voices, Inqlabi Mazdoor Kendra central committee member Shyambir Shukla said Daikin workers had to fight for five years before they could get their union registered following the intervention of the Rajasthan High Court.
‘Exploitation of workers’
The action was also aimed at instilling fear in workers of other factories in the area and to prevent them from forming unions.
Mr. Shukla said there are no registered unions in Neemrana, which is a major reason for exploitation of workers.