Workers lynch Indian tea plantation owner over pay

NEW DELHI // Angry workers have hacked to death the owner of a tea plantation in eastern India over a pay dispute, underscoring festering labour unrest in the region.

Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, 45, was dragged out in the middle of discussions and attacked by the irate mob at the Sonali tea estate in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal state, police said on Sunday.

“Our preliminary investigations have revealed that there was some issue of payments. It appears he was attacked by some sharp weapons,” PT Bhutia said.

After the culprits fled, police searched the neighbouring villages at the estate, which is spread over some 161 hectares of land in the Dooars region.

Tea workers are notoriously badly paid and often housed in poor accommodation in remote areas. They are given little protection by police and cannot take advantage of laws designed to guarantee them health care and fair working conditions, rights groups say.

Last year, workers at a tea garden in neighbouring Assam state bludgeoned their boss and his wife to death before setting the bungalow where they lived on fire over payment disputes.

In the latest incident, police said Jhunjhunwala arrived at the plantation in the last week to sort out differences with his workers.

“He [Jhunjhunwala] did not live here. He came here to pacify his workers as it appears they had not been paid their salaries for the last two to three months,” Mr Bhutia said.

Tea plantations in West Bengal are spread over Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars regions which produced 312 million kilograms of tea last year, according to the Tea Board of India.

* Agence France-Presse