An assistant manager of a tea estate owned by a company of the BK Birla Group, around 30km from Siliguri town in the Terai, was hacked to death on Thursday afternoon, creating panic among the managerial staff in the tea estates.
This is the first time in 10 years that a managerial-level employee in a north Bengal tea estate was murdered.
Darjeeling district police have nabbed the suspected attacker, a resident of the tea estate. The police have not divulged the name of the suspect or his motive.
Police sources said the victim, Nilanjan Bhadra, 45, who was from Hamiltonganj of Alipurduar district, was moving along a road that runs between the tea plantations on his bike. On his way, he was fatally hacked with a sharp weapon.
Bhadra was the assistant manager of the Jayantika tea estate located off NH27 under Phansidewa police station limits of Siliguri subdivision in Darjeeling district. The tea estate is owned by the Calcutta-based Jayshree Tea of the BK Birla Group.
The suspected attacker, also a resident of the garden, had hacked Bhadra with a sharp weapon that left him with a fatal injury in his neck. Bhadra collapsed on the spot.
After some time, some local residents spotted Bhadra’s body and the bike and informed others. The police were informed and soon rushed to the spot.
Sources said Bhadra lived with his family in the garden. On Thursday, after having lunch, he had left home on
his bike.
As the news spread, senior police officers including Abhishek Roy, the additional superintendent of police of Kurseong, and Neha Jain, the sub-divisional police officer of Naxalbari, reached the spot.
They spoke to residents to gather information about Bhadra and the suspected attacker.
Later in the evening, Praween Prakash, the superintendent of police of Darjeeling, said the arrested person had confessed. “He has confessed to the crime but is making conflicting statements. We are trying to gather information from him to ascertain the motive. Also, searches are on to find the murder weapon,” said Prakash.
The accused reportedly is a habitual drunkard.
Trade union leaders expressed surprise at the incident.
“It is a shocking incident. There was no problem in the garden and production was going on in full swing.... The management should stand by the bereaved family,” said Nirjal Dey, the Darjeeling (plains) district INTTUC president.
Sources in the tea industry said attacks on managerial personnel were rare in the tea industry. The last incident occurred in 2014, over 10 years back, in the Dooars.
In March 2014, Ajit Panwar, the assistant manager of the Dalmore tea estate in Alipurduar district, was hacked to death by a worker. Panwar allegedly misbehaved with his wife.
In November 2014, Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, the owner of the Sonali tea estate in Malbazar subdivision of Jalpaiguri district, was dragged out of his bungalow in the garden by workers and lynched.
In August 2015, Duncans Goenka Group officials were injured when they tried to stop some criminals from illegally chopping trees in the Garganda tea estate in Alipurduar.
Rana Dey, the secretary of the Terai branch of the Indian Tea Association, said Thursday’s murder had jolted them. “Those in managerial positions at gardens are feeling insecure.... We are also perturbed and hope the police take necessary steps,” he said.