Highlights:
- Wistron sustains damages worth ₹ 437 crore
- iPhone maker Wistron witnessed violence at Karnataka plant
- Employees carried out violence, arson and loot at the Narasapura plant
Wistron Corporation, the Taiwan based tech company, has said that it has sustained loss worth ₹ 437 crore and 40 lakh in the violence in its manufacturing plant in Kolar district in Karnataka which was unleashed by a section of its workers over some salary issue at the plant.
A huge number of Wistron’s employees allegedly carried out violence, loot and arson at its Narasapura manufacturing plant over some wages related issues on Saturday, said the police.
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The employees damaged the vehicles, setting them on fire afterwards, damaged the buildings, the costly equipment which includes computers and machinery.
Wistron Corporation’s executive, T D Prashanth, in the complaint at the Vemagal police station, stated that the office equipment, mobile phones, production machinery and other related equipment which were worth ₹412.5 crore were lost.
The damage to infrastructure will cost the company an additional ₹ 10 crore, while ₹ 60 worth of golf carts and cars, smartphones were destroyed. Additionally, smartphones and other gadgets worth ₹ 1.5 crore were wither damaged, lost or stolen in the violence.
Prashanth, in the complaint, also stated that apart from 5,000 contract labours there were around 2,000 unknown culprits who carried out the vandalism at the manufacturing plant.
As of now, the Police has arrested 149 people related to this case and have detained some others.
In the meantime, the Managing Director (MD) of Wistron Indian, Sudipto Gupta, said that the company is in a state of a deep shock by the events it witnessed at the Narasapura manufacturing plant, in a statement.
In a statement to the media, Gupta said, “We follow the law and are supporting the authorities with their investigation. The safety and wellbeing of our team members is always our top priority”.
The Karnataka government, led by B. S. Yediyurappa, condemned the incident and assured the company of security and stringent actions against all the people who were involved in the violence and arson. On Sunday, the political parties in the state called for a thorough and impartial probe in the violence at Wistron’s manufacturing plant while expressing their concerns over the possible impact this incident had on the investment-friendly image of Karnataka.
