SK Maheshwari, CEO of the Northbrook Jute Mill at Bhadreshwar in Hooghly – some 50 km from Kolkata, was allegedly beaten to death by workers of the mill on Sunday.

Sources said that angry workers allegedly pelted stones at Maheshwari and beat him up with iron rods. He was referred to a private hospital but died on way. No arrests have yet been made in the case. Sunil Chowdhury, SP, Hooghly, did not take calls made to him.

Workers provoked According to State Labour Minister, Purnendu Bose, the jute mill operated in two shifts. However, there was some production backlog because of which the management had reportedly asked workers to work an additional shift. “Negotiations between the management and workers were going on relating to wages and additional shifts. One meeting had taken place in the morning and a second was due later in the day,” Bose told Business Line . “Had we known that negotiations were on in the jute mill, we would have taken appropriate precautionary measures,” he said.

Before the second meeting took place, some outsiders apparently provoked the workers, the Minister said. This led to the attack on the CEO and other officials present at the jute mill. Bose levelled allegations against the BJP-backed Bharat Mazdoor Sabha (BMS) and the CPI-M-backed CITU for inciting violence and fomenting trouble.

Shyamal Chakrabarty, CITU, Bengal President, denied the charges.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that “strict action will be taken against the perpetrators”.

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