A worker of a closed tea garden in Jalpaiguri was arrested last night by Siliguri police on the charge of dacoity. Three of his associates were also held.
The incident is being seen as an indication of the worsening situation in north Bengal’s tea sector.
Acting on a tip-off, the police picked up Ramesh Oraon (28) of Raipur Tea Estate (closed since July last year) under Kotwali police station in the Jalpaiguri district, along with three others from a hideout in Khalpara. Two improvised firearms and four rounds of ammunition were seized from them.
The other three who have been arrested are Sukumar Das (25) from Jyotinagar Colony under Siliguri police station and Abhi Munia (26) and Jairam Das (20), both from Randhamali in the Jalpaiguri district. All four were forwarded to the court today.
“They have confessed that they were planning to raid a series of houses in the area,” said Siliguri additional superintendent of police Tripurari.
“They do not have any criminal records in Siliguri. We will contact our counterparts in Jalpaiguri to know about their past. What we have been able to confirm is that Sukumar had asked the three to come to Siliguri so that they could form a gang.”
The arrest of the worker of a closed tea garden signals a frightening trend in north Bengal, feel trade union leaders. “We had always feared that the management’s unmindful and harsh measures coupled with the government’s absolute apathy would drive workers of closed gardens to adopt criminal means for a living,” said Samir Roy, general secretary of West Bengal Cha Mazdoor Sabha.
Roy added that desperate workers might even get involved in anti-national activity. “With so many separatist movements active in north Bengal, it will not be difficult to instigate the workers, who are dying of hunger and malnutrition,”.
Source > The Telegraph
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