Private cargo handler ABG pulls out of West Bengal

Company's counsel informs Calcutta High Court of termination of operations after recent abducation of officials

Private cargo handler ABG Haldia Bulk Terminals (HBT) has decided to pull out from West Bengal, after the recent abduction of company officials from Haldia.

In a letter to Calcutta High Court, the company’s counsel has informed that the company will terminate its operations in Haldia.

The company has also written to the Kolkata Port Trust, seeking termination of its contract with the port.

According to an earlier HBT statement, three officials — Manpreet Jolly, Jagadish Behara and Bushan Patil, including his wife and 1-year-old daughter — were abducted at 1 am today by about 50 unidentified persons. The company said they were released later after being “threatened at gun point” that they should not set foot again in Haldia.

The ABG Shipyard had earlier approached the Calcutta High Court complaining that they could not continue operations at the Haldia dock due to “law and order problem”. 

On October 19, the Calcutta High Court had directed the state of West Bengal to provide HBT a safe environment to operate.

HBT had even paid Rs 17,45,730 towards the deployment of police personnel. 

Recently, Kolkata Port Trust moved the High Court seeking permission to terminate its agreement with HBT, which has stopped operations at the second and eighth berths of the dock complex, following unrest over the retrenchment of 275 employees at HBT.

A joint venture company between ABG Infralogistics and French firm Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, HBT had a total workforce of 1,000, of which 650 were on its payroll while 350 were under a sub-contractor.

The company had stopped operations on September 24, citing political unrest.