Tezpur, June 5: The Assam government today warned of more Sapoi-like incidents in other tea gardens in Sonitpur district in the “next seven days”. Two tea garden officials were burnt to death by labourers of Sapoi estate on May 30.

A wireless message relayed to all police stations and outposts in the district asked officers in-charge to mount extra vigil as “labour-management” relations have deteriorated since the twin murders.

Stating that “relations between some managements and workers are not as cordial as expected following the Sapoi incident”, the message asked all officers in-charge of police stations to “physically investigate” the atmosphere in the tea gardens under their jurisdiction and report to the Sonitpur deputy commissioner within a week.

On May 30, deputy manager of Sapoi tea estate Anthony D. Unger and senior assistant manager Susmit Kumar Singh were hacked and burnt to death by a mob of garden workers. The next day a worker was killed after police opened fire on a mob which had attacked the police station and injured its circle inspector, Dolan Tamuli.

Following the killing of Unger and Singh, the tea industry, for the first time in its history, demanded that the government pay compensation to their next of kin as it had failed to provide security to the personnel.

Sources in the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association claimed that nearly a dozen homeguards had stood by and watched as the workers dragged out the managers from their bungalows and hacked them.

Police sources today said the situation at Sapoi, a Kanoi group garden, was “calm but tense”. The workers have demanded that the management immediately withdraw the lockout that was clamped on the estate following the incident and release the 31 arrested workers unconditionally.

The sources said two of the three platoons of the 13 Assam police battalions, deployed after the incident, were still camping near the manager’s bungalow. The third platoon will return to base as soon as the “situation improved”. The police now suspect that “elements from outside” provoked the tea workers into violence, which resulted in the unfortunate incident.

Assam revenue minister Etowa Munda, along with district Congress chief Bhimananda Tanti and other party leaders, visited the tea garden. AGP president Brindaban Goswami and MLA Dilip Saikia Sonowal accompanied by other party leaders also paid a visit.