Wistron violence: PM Modi very worried, says Karnataka CM Yediyurappa

Earlier in the day, police detained a leader of Students' Federation of India, which is affiliated to CPI (M), in connection with the rampage at unit on Saturday

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said that his government would give full support to Wistron for restarting production at the earliest at its iPhone manufacturing plant near Bengaluru, which was ransacked on alleged wage issues earlier this week.
 

“We have taken action. It is a very important foreign company and this (incident) should not have happened. The Prime Minister is also very much worried about this development,” Yediyurappa said. “We will give full support to that company and let them continue production without any problem,” he added.
 

Earlier in the day, the police detained a leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), which is affiliated to the Commiunist Party of India (Marxist), in connection with the rampage that took place at the Taiwanese-headquartered plant in the wee hours of Saturday which has led to a loss of Rs 50 crore, according to the company.
 

While the mob damaged several equipment and vehicles on the campus and burnt two golf carts, there have also been reports of hundreds of iPhones, laptops, and other products being stolen by the attackers.
 

Over 150 people have been arrested so far in the case, while several have been detained for questioning. Sources said the police had gathered over 450 CCTV footages and all those involved in the violence would be arrested.
 

“The government should take an objective assessment of the situation. Currently, it is just pandering to the foreign investment sentiment,” alleged Clifton D’Rozario, national secretary of the All India Central Council of Trade Unions. “To restore industrial peace the government needs to gain the confidence of the workers by stopping their harassment in the form of criminal cases and arrests,” he added.
 

Earlier, the Karnataka government had stated that it has always been a peaceful state and on the forefront of welcoming foreign investments. Calling Wistron a ‘very important project’ it had said that the state is committed to the growth of industry, trade, and business. The Centre, too, has asked the state government to complete the inquiry into the incident at the earliest and ensure that the investor sentiment is not affected because of such one-off incidents.
 

According to reports, Wistron has already begun rebuilding the plant that manufactures iPhones and other IoT-related products.