Gunshots in air led to melee

An irate mob of labourers; police officials who reportedly came in late; a fierce fight that ensued between the workers and the management; and above all, the sound of a gunshot being fired at someone that led the labourers to believe that one of their fellow workers was shot at by company officials.

An irate mob of labourers; police officials who reportedly came in late; a fierce fight that ensued between the workers and the management; and above all, the sound of a gunshot being fired at someone that led the labourers to believe that one of their fellow workers was shot at by company officials.

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All this led to the violent flare up at the Indo-Japanese company Allied Nippon Limited (ANL) at Sahibabad Industrial area resulting in the death of the assistant general manager.

The incident occurred around 2 pm on Saturday, when one working shift of the company was over and the second one was about to start. ANL management said around 400 workers, armed with swords, bricks, brake shoes and rods entered the premises, and specifically targeted the top management and chased them inside the administrative block.

According to ANL’s spokesperson MS Chaudhary, “These men had assistant general manager Chaudhary as a specific target. HR manager Raj Kumar and Chaudhary ran out of gate number 2 to save themselves. Raj Kumar fired some shots in the air in self-defence and managed to escape. While Chaudhary tried to enter a nearby industrial unit, he was caught by the chasing mob.”

Even as the workers outside beat up Chaudhary, those inside ANL smashed windows, doors and furniture inside the administrative block. The mob also thrashed operation head Sanjeev Jain, company’s president NC Kaushik, chief security officer Omveer Singh and other administrative and HR officials, injuring them badly.

Kumar fired several shots in the air for self-defence, which led the agitated workers to believe that some of their fellow workers were shot at by company officials. Some workers were already angry after the alleged misbehaviour by Chaudhary,” said a police officer.

“The management also fired on us and that further infuriated the workers,” said workers Brijesh Kumar and Amit Kumar at Link Road police station.

“I fired three to four times in the air with my licensed pistol to scare away the mob, which was following us,” Raj Kumar said on Sunday at a press briefing by ANL’s management.

Police said the workers chased Chaudhury about 500 metres outside ANL’s premises. “The mob encircled him and thrashed him with iron rods and threw bricks at him, which later led to his death,” said a police officer.

“Chaudhary was later declared dead and we received information about the same around 12.45 am on Sunday,” said Avneesh Gautam, Link Road station officer. Three others were also injured in the incident. They are undergoing treatment at the Yashoda Hospital in Kaushambi, he added.