Puducherry, January 28: A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the violence by workers of a private factory in Yanam, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, that led to the lynching of a top official of the unit after a union leader allegedly died in police action.
The frenzied workers of the Regency Ceramics went on the rampage on Friday after their leader M.S. Murali Mohan was allegedly killed in police action outside the factory and attacked the residence of president (Operations) K.C. Chandrasekhar, resulting in fatal head injuries.
Trouble had been brewing since January 2, with more than 800 contract workers staging daily protests demanding that the services of senior workers be regularised and wages revised.
Leading the protest, Mr. Mohan went to the factory and tried to obstruct workers from going for the morning shift on Friday when he was allegedly hit by police with batons, causing chest injuries. He collapsed and was rushed to hospital, where he died, police said.
Police opened fire after using canes to disperse the violent workers who torched the vehicles of educational institutions run by the factory, electronic goods and other properties following the death of Mr. Mohan, a dismissed worker.
Official sources in Yanam said that the Deputy Tahsildar Markendayan had started the probe into the incidents of violence and also extensive damages to the properties of the ceramics factory manufacturing tiles.
—Agencies