Violence-hit Vivo plant shut for the day, 6 arrested so far

Vivo India’s manufacturing plant in Techzone (IT Park) in Greater Noida had come under attack of some disgruntled employees on Tuesday afternoon on apprehensions that they were being handed out pink slips without notice.

Amid tight security provided by the police and private security guards, violence-hit Vivo manufacturing plant in Greater Noida shut for the day on Wednesday, hoping to resume operations Thursday.

Police personnel were deployed at Vivo factory in Greater Noida to avoid violence by sacked workers. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The police have so far made six arrests in the matter and are looking for more persons who were involved in the violence.

The arrested men were identified as Nakul, Yashpal, Bhupendra, Pushpendra, Somdev and Sonu. The police have booked them under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.

A notice pasted at the entrance of the manufacturing plant read: “Due to some special situation, it is hereby to announce 26th July as a holiday for all people. And all people shall resume work on 27th July normally unless with further notification (sic).”

The company’s manufacturing plant in Techzone (IT Park) in Greater Noida had come under attack of some disgruntled employees on Tuesday afternoon on apprehensions that they were being handed out pink slips without notice. The workers reportedly ransacked a section of the plant, entered into a scuffle with security personnel and stole some mobile phone consignments from a truck. The company is still assessing the total damage caused by the workers and has lodged a police complaint.

“We are also in touch with the contractor, who had men working in the company, to provide us details of the workers who created trouble on the premises on Tuesday,” she said.

A company official on Wednesday told the police that they were not sacking workers, but had asked them to move from one section to another in order to provide them training. He said, “The workers got confused with the word ‘move’ with ‘remove’.”

However, it is also a fact that hundreds of contractual workers in the company have been sacked in the last couple of months.

The police have asked company officials to inform them about their retrenchment plans, so that they are ready in advance to handle any situation like the one on Tuesday.

The police have also agreed to deploy more men near the manufacturing plant in the days to comes so that no untoward incident takes place.