india

Updated: Jan 07, 2020 15:57 IST

The ongoing workers’ unrest in Muthoot Finance Limited, a leading gold financing company, took an ugly turn on Tuesday after a group of activists allegedly belonging to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) attacked managing director George Alexandar Muthoot with stones.

Police said miscreants pelted the MD’s car with stones while he was on his way to the office in Kochi and Alexander received injuries on his head and shoulder. He was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors said his condition is stable.

“They hurled stones and concrete boulders on the MD and he escaped with injuries by God’s grace. It was a planned attack. We have evidence that it was carried out by CITU goons. It is a sad day for Kerala,” said group PRO Babu John.

A section of the employees has been on strike against the management’s decision to close down 43 branches in the state leaving at least 160 employees jobless. While the management said these branches were closed due to non-profitability, employees alleged that they were punished for taking part in earlier strikes.

The CITU has, however, denied any role in the attack. “We have no role in it. We don’t believe in violence,” said CITU state president Anathalavattom Anandan. “We suspect the handiwork of some people to portray the CITU and the government in bad light,” said another leader CK Manishankar.

But MD’s son Eappan Alexandar said CITU’s version was a “big joke”. “It was a close shave for my father. It seems CITU leaders are cracking jokes. Did the CITU ever own up such a crime earlier? We all know its credentials well,” he said.

State Labour Minister TK Ramakrishnan also blamed the management for the present mess. “The government tried its best to buy peace in the organisation. But most of the time it retracted from its promises and enforced anti-employees measures,” he said. He said police will conduct a detailed probe into the attack.

Babu John said out of 2,800 employees in the state, at least 200-250 are members of the union but they seek outside forces to disrupt work. He said more than 70 per cent employees are women and they are being physically attacked whenever they turn up for work. “The CITU has wrecked several business establishments in the state. It wants Muthoot to pull down its shutters. When the whole country is in the grip of a severe meltdown such acts will tarnish image of the state further,” said John.

Many industrialists have condemned the attack saying such incidents will damage the state’s all-out move to attract investments. Interestingly, the incident occurred a couple of days before the Ascend 2020, a global investors’ meet in Kochi on January 9-10.

“I don’t know why certain outfits are taking law into their hands. If they have some grievances they could have gone to the court. How can you attract investment to the state in this situation?” asked V Guard group chairman Kochouseph Chittilapilly. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and many other organizations have also condemned the attack.

A leading gold financing company, Muthoot has over 6,000 branches across the country. Out of these, it has 600 branches in Kerala; its headquarters too is in Kochi. After recurring work disruptions, Muthoot has threatened to close down its Kerala operation saying the state continues to leave a big hole its pocket.