India Tea Workers burn Boss to Death!

Local officials reports that about 1000 tea garden workers surrounded their bosses residence in North-East India,  on Wednesday evening, setting it ablaze; burning to death the owner and his wife.

The charred bodies of Mridul Kumar Bhattacharyya and his wife Rita were later recovered from the debris.

According to report, the angry workers surrounded the bungalow at Kunapathar in Assam state, late Wednesday, following a two week long dispute with the manager.

Police said the incident happened after the manager asked some workers to leave their accommodation

Workers pick tea leaves in Assam, India.

More than half of India's tea output comes from 800 tea estates in Assam.

It was gathered that Mr. bhattacharyya had faced protests at another tea estate he owned two years ago.; in which angry workers set fire ti his tea factory near the state capital,  Guwahatai, after he had allegedly fired on a crowd that had gathered near his house to protest against a report attack on a local woman, 

An unnamed female tea worker was quoted as saying that:

“We all came and attacked the bungalow and set it on fire. They deserved to be killed as the planter has exploited us for a long time and tortured us for petty things"

A local newspaper reported that the violence was sparked by the plantation owner and exploiter Mridul Bhattacharya ordering 10 workers to leave their homes with immediate effect, and the detention of several workers by the police on unspecified charges. The workers claim that Bhattacharya had not paid them their wages that had been due in December, and all the other issues have stemmed from workers complaining about the non-payment.

When workers refused to leave their homes (owned by the plantation) he had them arrested and imprisoned. An unnamed worker said that:

“Some workers met Bhattacharya Wednesday morning and requested him to get the arrested labourers released. He, however, did not pay any heed to the request and threatened the workers of dire consequences. This angered the labourers and they took the extreme step,”

It has been gathered that  the plantation owner, Mridul Bhattacharya, has a history of exploiting and killing workers.