CPM demands judicial inquiry in firing in industrial unit in HP

Shimla, Jul 1 (UNI) The CPM today demanded a judicial inquiry into the yesterday's firing incident in an industrial unit at Shogi, near here, in Himachal Pradesh in which one person was killed and five others injured.

CPM stands for a judicial inquiry, headed by a retired high court judge, into the yesterday's firing incident at Supermax industries at Shogi, party's state secretary Rakesh Singha said in a release here.

He said the head injuries suffered by five persons revealed that the intention was to kill them, besides creating terror amongst the workers after killing the leaders of the union who were demanding an increase in their wages following the state's government notification to increase the wages from January one, this year.

Alleging that police was in league with the unit's management to end unionism in the factory, he said the suspension of nine union leaders by the factory management was a proof of their evil designs.

He also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation to the kin of the worker who died in the firing incident and Rs five lakh each to the injured workers.

Mr Singha alleged that the five security men, who had resorted to unprovoked firing on the peacefully agitating workers of the factory, also used to threaten workers within the factory premises for demanding the implementation of the labour laws.

Referring to the death of five union leaders in three different hydel projects of the state during the last few years, he said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal should convene an all party meeting to find a permanent solution to the problems of the workers in the Supermax and other industries and hydel projects.

The CPM leader also lamented at the sorry state of affairs in the industrial units, saying the security guards in these units were basically ''shooters'' employed under the garb of personal security guards.

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