Guwahati, July 24: The Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association (Abita) has sent an SOS to Dispur to improve security in and around the gardens so that the employees can discharge their duties without fear.

The move follows close on the heels of the killing of assistant manager of Majuligarh tea estate Neel Kamal Das and havildar Suresh Chandra Sharma of the Assam Tea Plantation Security Force by suspected National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) militants in Sonitpur district on July 19.

The two men were on their way to office to disburse weekly wages to workers when they were shot from point blank range. The militants decamped with Rs 1.5 lakh and a 9-mm carbine belonging to the havildar.

The Abita has submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioner of Sonitpur L.S. Changson, urging him to order an investigation into the incident and arrest the culprits.

The Abita appealed to the deputy commissioner to initiate proceedings under the Indian Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to punish the culprits.

“We feel that we need more security to instil the much-needed sense of security and safety in the minds of all employees of the tea estates,” the memorandum stated. It stated that the crime was premeditated and carried out to unleash terror and create insecurity among the executives, tea security personnel and other employees. A copy of the memorandum has been sent to the Assam chief secretary, the commissioner (home) and the director-general of police.

At a condolence meeting held at Tezpur Station Club on July 20, members of the planting fraternity condemned the killing and demanded the arrest of the militants involved in the crime.

A two-minute silence was observed at the meeting, which adopted a resolution to urge the district and police authorities to ensure adequate security to management and other staff of the tea estates to enable them perform their duties in peace.

The garden, adjoining Arunachal Pradesh, produces 12 lakh kg of tea annually and belongs to the Calcutta-based M.K. Shah & Company, which owns four gardens in Assam.

Bonus committee

A high-powered tripartite committee has been formed to resolve the Puja bonus row in the tea gardens of Assam, reports our Dibrugarh correspondent. It will work out the modalities of the proposed slab system of distributing bonus.

The committee was formed during a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Planters’ Association (CCPA), the Asom Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) and the state government at the Circuit House last evening and comprises their representatives.

The initiative to settle the matter of bonus well in advance this year was taken by the CCPA in view of the violence it has evoked over the past few years.

Last year, seven workers were killed in police firing at Khobang tea estate in Tinsukia over a bonus dispute. The government delegation was led by labour minister Rameshwar Dhanowar, the CCPA group by its secretary-general Manojit Dasgupta and the ACMS team by its general-secretary Madhusudhan Khandait.