The murder of factory worker, Jagdesh, who was attacked and killed by his colleagues on April 8 in Korangi Industrial Area may have been done in the presence of the police who did nothing to stop this from happening, eye witnesses told The News.

Jagdesh Kumar was murdered on suspicion that he had uttered blasphemous words, in the process enraging his fellow workers who beat him to death.

When contacted, the Korangi Police denied this allegation but did not give any details. After the death of Jagdesh, a Hindu by faith, the police registered FIR 268/08 under section 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code against “unknown persons.” The case is registered at the Korangi Police Station. However, till the filing of this report, no arrest has been made despite the fact that the murder took place in a crowded factory area in full view of several workers.

The deceased worker used to work in the Stretching department of Nova Leather Industries Private Limited, which is based in the Korangi Industrial Area. Jagdesh was serving in Nova Industries for the last eight years. He originally belonged to Mirpur Khas and he was living with his brother-in-law in Karachi in the Marvari Mohallah, located near Lyari General Hospital.

Nova Industries is a large sized factory, employing over 7,000 workers in different departments. When contacted by The News, some of the workers at the factory said that Jagdesh has committed blashphemy and this was not the first time he used objectionable language.

However, in the past Jagdesh had been sent on leave when he had caused trouble. This time round, he was not so lucky.According to fellow workers who saw the while incident, Jagdesh entered into a quarrel with some co-workers on April 8 at around 10AM on some issue. The matter was resolved by the supervisor of the department concerned and work then resumed in the department.

The workers, who declined to be named, said that the quarrel was once again resumed at 11.30AM when some workers attacked Jagdesh and spread rumours that he had uttered blashphemous remarks. This was the first time the mention of blasphemous remarks were made.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, factory managers took Jagdesh to the factory’s Security Room at 11.45AM. “In the meantime, the security supervisor informed the factory manager about the incident. The factory manager was not present in the factory premises the time,” disclosed the workers.

This was the time that the police was summouned. By the time the police mobile van arrived, news had spread of the alleged blasphemy like wild fire and a large number of angry workers had gathered around the serurity room. The arrival of the police seem to have triggered a reaction in the workers who then turned violent.

“The angry mob broke the security room’s door and dragged a hapless Jagdesh out of the factory gate and started beating him up with fists and kicks. The police looked on passively as the factory workers beat Jagdesh to death,” recalled one worker.

But so insensed were the workers that they were not happy to kill Jagdesh. Eye witnesses said that they wanted to burn his body as well but at that point the policemen woke from their slumber and took custody of the body.

Now police officials claim that the incident had already taken place by the time the police van reached the factory. This is in direct contradiction to what eye-witnesses told The News. “How such incident can happen in front of police. Actually the worker had already been murdered when police arrived at the spot,” a senior officer told The News but asked not to be named.

However, it is believed that the factory has possession of the tape recording of the incident since it records all incidents within and outside the factory premises through strategically installed cameras. This tape will show who were those who took the law into their hands.

There are also questions being asked about the passive role of the management who let the factory workers drag Jagdesh out of the factory premises. One reason given by a worker why Jagdesh was allowed to be killed was that the factory management was upset with the disruption in production and wanted to put an end to the incident and move on. It wanted the matter to be

settled but did not expect what happened next. They were expecting that the matter would end after some minor injuries. But this all speculation and all attempts to contact the management of Nova Industries have failed.
Source: The News
Date:4/12/2008