First assaulted, then burnt alive

It was just another Wednesday for Awanish Kumar Dev (50), general manager (HR) at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, when he left for the factory at 7.30 am in his Swift Dzire after performing surya namaskar, a part of his morning routine. Rajat Arora reports. Countdown to violence

It was just another Wednesday for Awanish Kumar Dev (50), general manager (HR) at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, when he left for the factory at 7.30 am in his Swift Dzire after performing surya namaskar, a part of his morning routine.

HT Image

His driver Vinay drove him to the plant and was present when a mob set a portion of the factory on fire.

"We got to know that the union had attacked the plant, but little did we know that Sahab (Dev) was also there," said Vinay, his personal driver for the past three months.

"When he did not come back in the evening, the family tried to call on his mobile but it was switched off. They called me but I too was clueless. Soon after, we got to know from some people at Maruti that he had been injured," Vinay said.

Dev was brutally assaulted and left in an unconscious state to be burnt alive in the raging fire. The post-mortem report, conducted on Thursday, revealed that he had suffered 100 per cent burns and his legs were fractured.

Dev's brother-in-law Rajender Prasad told HT: "We got information on Wednesday night that Dev was injured and missing from the plant. We tried his mobile number but it was switched off. We rushed to Manesar and got to know that an HR person was found dead but the body had been unidentified." Prasad added, "I went to the mortuary and identified the body."

Dev, a 1984-batch alumnus of Xavier Institute of Social Sciences, Ranchi, joined Maruti Suzuki as general manager (human resources) in June 2010. He had been staying with his family in south Delhi's Shivalik, near Malviya Nagar.

"On Thursday morning, around 8.30 am, some people from the company visited the family and informed them about Dev's death. What I could gather from the other employees of the plant was that he was brutally beaten up by the union members after the scuffle that took place sometime in the afternoon. He was then forced under a table and then thinner - an inflammable substance - was sprayed in the room, which was set on fire," Vinay said.

Dev's parents flew in from Ranchi on Friday evening. "The parents still don't know about the death of their son. They'll be informed shortly," said an employee from Maruti, who accompanied the parents from the airport.

Before joining Maruti Suzuki, Dev, a native of Ranchi, was working with Noida-based Triveni Engineering and Industries. "His wife Superna Prasad works with the ministry of defence and their son studies in Class 12," said a neighbour, requesting anonymity.

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