Industry bodies condemn killing of jute mill CEO

The CEO of Northbrook Jute Mill in Hooghly district, Hari Kusum Maheshwari, was beaten to death by the angry trade union workers when he tried to pacify them over the problem of excessive productivity.

Viresh Oberoi, Chairman, CII Eastern Region, in a statement said: “At a time when we have been witnessing improvement in the industrial climate, such an incident is indeed very unfortunate and we hope that whosoever responsible should be brought to books to send out a strong message."

“CII firmly believes the industry, trade unions and the Government are inalienable partners in the industrial growth and development of the State. Discussions and dialogues are the only way to achieve sustainable solutions. We hope all measures would be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.”

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said  industrial violence in any form must be eschewed, and the Government must take necessary steps to completely remove such an atmosphere in the State at a time when the primary objective is to bring back investor confidence in West Bengal.

"The Government has to take necessary steps to not only bring perpetrators of such heinous crimes to book, but also must take all steps necessary to creating the right work culture which we all hoped the Government had been focusing on to bring back," said P Roy, Director General of BCCI.