MAY 30 will remain a black day for Assam’s Tea Planters. A rampaging mob of tea workers dragged two executives raided Sapoi Tea Estate in Sonitpur district, dragged two executives out of their homes and burnt them alive. Armed home guard personnel were present but they did not intervene. The ghastly incident shook the entire tea industry. A fresh debate has started on security in the sprawling tea gardens. 

“Nothing illegal and violent should be allowed to happen in presence of the men in uniform. This is requirement of any civil society. The men in uniform are duty-bound to react to the situation like the tragedy that occurred at Sapoi Tea Estate. The tea industry is obviously worried,” said D Kakoti, secretary of Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association (ABITA).

 The State Government has suspended the home guards persons along with a Police Lance Naik for the Sapoi gory incident. This in itself confirmed that the police had failed to discharge their responsibility.

The ABITA official said planters are spending about Rs 15 crore per year to maintain 120 contingents of Home Guards and the Assam Tea Plantation Protection Force (ATPPF). This is in addition to expenditure on their up keep – uniforms, subsidised ration, and accommodation.

“In lieu of spending such a huge amount on these men in uniform, the planters obviously expect them to be sincere to their duty. But Sapoi tragedy has shattered our confidence in them,” Kakoti said.

Labourers in Sapoi Tea Estate has been a disgruntled lot of late as they feel cheated by the management which has not been able to its obligations under the Plantation Labour Act. The cash-strapped management of the garden has not been able to provide 20 per cent bonus and the same has been paid at a reduced rate much to the chagrin of the tea workers.

The tea estate has been passing through a lean phase. Its production is down by about 50 per cent over the last few years while the strength of the permanent labourers has remained almost same. An undercurrent of tension was running in the estate and the security men engaged in the garden were aware of it, still they failed to anticipate and avert the May 30 tragedy.
Just before the Sapoi tragedy, the Planters were thinking of withdrawing ATPPF and Home Guards from areas where the threat perception had improved. This was a move to cut down costs on security and save that extra penny. Now things have changed.

Meanwhile, the Police arrested two Asam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) members in connection with the killings. ACMS activists, Lepo Horo and Lucas Aind were arrested on the basis of the FIR filed by Suparna Ayengar, wife of the slain deputy manager of Sapoi Tea Estate, Anthony Ayengar.

With the arrests of the two ACMS activists, the number of persons arrested so far in connection with the gruesome Sapoi killings had gone up to 34 which include seven women tea workers.

Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA) condemning the murder of Maderkhat Tea Estate Assistant Manager Mukul Duarah by irate mob of tea workers termed it as a planned murder perpetrated at the behest of some vested interests bent upon terrorising tea executives in the State. The planters’ body sought the intervention of the human rights commission.

According to ATPA, “The Tea industry is now passing through a great crisis and struggling for its survival due to continuous fall in the tea prices and rapid rise in the cost of production. All the gardens are trying their  best to become competitive by improving their efficiency and reducing wastage. The workers in most of the gardens are welcoming this progressive work-culture. But in some gardens, on instigation of some vested interests, a few casual workers are resisting the new work-culture adopted by the management.

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