GUWAHATI, Sept 8 � Militants have virtually robbed the tea estates (TEs) of Karbi Anglong district of their lifeblood by making their owners and employees live under an atmosphere of constant threat and to cough up hefty sums of money to satisfy the militants.
To fleece the tea estates of hefty sums of money, these militants are now abducting employees of the tea estates and in one case they have kidnapped a child belonging to a TE employee's family. One TE owner received gun shot injuries when the militants tried to abduct him.
Moreover, to compel the TE owners to pay the extortion amounts, these militants are now forcing them to close their gardens. Significantly, the district's TEs, numbering around 20, are not big in size. They are medium-sized TEs and mostly concentrated in the Borpathar Police Station area. Most of them even do not have their own factories. Together, they produce about 30 lakh kgs of made tea annually.
These TEs are not in a position to afford for the Tea Security Force deployments in their gardens. They are owned by indigenous tea planters.
Though the members of the anti-talk faction of the Karbi Longri National Liberation Front (KLNLF) were initially found to be involved in such activities, it is now found that the members of the pro-talk faction of the outfit are also hand in glove with these elements, alleged the affected tea planters.
The North Eastern Tea Association (NETA), to which most of the affected TEs are affiliated, has sent letters to the State's Chief Minister, Industries Minister, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and to the Union Home Minister, seeking effective measures to bring an end to this situation.
The NETA has said in its letters that the situation has turned from bad to worse in the district, particularly after the surrender of the militant groups. There are recent incidents where the militants forcibly closed down tea estates by threatening the labourers and other employees, jeopardising the livelihood of the workers.
This has created an atmosphere of unrest in the tea estates. Frequent disruptions in tea plantation activities result in complete chaos of the tea plucking cycle making the entire operations unviable and improvident, NETA said.
An employee of the Bhagawati TE was abducted at gun-point in broad daylight on the afternoon of August 31 last by the militants, who are now demanding a huge ransom. On finding no response forthcoming from the owner of the garden MD Khetan, the militant group closed down the operations of the garden on September 2 by threatening the labourers. The management duly informed the police station concerned and the NETA has also informed the district authorities of Karbi Anglong about the incident. In another incident, the owner of Dhanseri Tea Estate Angshuman Das was tried to be abducted by a group of militants and when he tried to flee from the scene he was shot at and one bullet hit him in his thigh. The incident took place around 7-30 pm of September 6. Das was immediately shifted to Golaghat Civil Hospital.
The NETA requested the Governments to urgently look into the matter and provide the district's TEs with security in their garden areas, by way of frequent patrolling or by any other means. It has also called for steps to help reopening of the Bhagawati TE by providing special security forces.
Moreover, it called for steps to rescue the Bhagawati TE's abducted employee from the clutches of his abductors. The militants have threatened to kill him if the ransom amount is not paid by September 7, said the Association.
NETA chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty told this newspaper that the State Police authorities have assured effective measures to ensure safety of the owners and employees of these TEs.
Meanwhile, M D Khetan has requested the district authorities to provide security cover so as to salvage whatever is left of the plucking season in his Bhagawati TE. The TE is by this time ruined by the bedlam created by the militants, Khetan said in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner of the district.