Gurgaon: Nearly 1,000 industrial workers on Thursday went on a vandalism spree from factory to factory, damaging machinery, burning cars and bikes and smashing furniture at the manufacturing hub of the city, Udyog Vihar.
The spark for the violence was a rumour that a fellow worker was allegedly thrashed by a manager and guards at a garments manufacturing unit for reporting late, had died.
The rampage, which continued for well over an hour, left nearly 100 people injured.
It took the cops nearly one hour to deploy enough personnel to contain the violence that started around 1:30 pm, though valuable time was lost initially as the police were informed only around 2 pm.
Even the fire brigade, which has a base in Udyog Vihar itself, arrived 50 minutes late, though Udyog Vihar has both police and fire stations.
Once the reinforcements had arrived, police brought the rampage to a halt within half an hour, by 3 pm.
But the damage had been done. Eleven factory buildings had suffered various degrees of damage and at least 100 cars were targeted, some of them upended and set on fire along with bikes in the middle of the road, resulting in huge losses.
Several policemen and factory workers were among the injured. A case was registered against the workers for rioting and arson under various sections of the IPC but no arrests were made till late night. Police sources said the FIR mentioned 150-200 workers but didn’t give the exact number.
“A policeman has been sent to Samichand’s house in Kapashera and he is alive with no major injuries. We are investigating and action will be taken against wrongdoers,” police commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk said.
The entire area was cordoned off and entry of the vehicles in Udyog Vihar was stopped. It was only after 5pm that normal traffic resumed.