Ahead of Kerala business meet, investor injured in stone-pelting
Muthoot, who suffered head injury, was admitted to a private hospital
Thiruvananthapuram: Two days ahead of a major investors’ meet in its commercial capital Kochi, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala suffered a setback when well-known investor George Alexander Muthoot was injured when miscreants pelted stones at his vehicle on Tuesday morning.
George Alexander Muthoot is the managing director of Muthoot Finance, one of India’s major non-banking finance companies.
Early reports said Muthoot, who suffered head injury, was admitted to a private hospital.
The attack on Muthoot adds to the consternation of businessmen in Kerala, who are already facing a shutdown on Wednesday as part of a national trade unions’ protest, which falls on the eve of the investors’ meet scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The attack on Muthoot is believed to be a fallout of ongoing labour strife in the company. Some employees of the company had been agitating against the management over dismissal of 160 staff from the company’s 43 branches across the state. The protests are led by the Centre of Trade Unions, a Left-affiliated trade union.
Kerala labour Minister TP Ramakrishnan was quick to refute allegations that the CITU had been behind the attack, stating that striking employees had “no hand in the attack” on George Alexander Muthoot.
In the attack, unknown persons smashed a window pane of Muthoot’s car with a stone. The attack happened close to the police inspector general’s office. The Confederation of Indian Industries condemned the attack.
CITU Kerala president Anathalavattom Anandan also refuted the allegations against his union’s members, stating that there should be a probe to determine if the attack was stage-managed to tarnish the image of the striking employees. The employer-employee dispute in the company is currently being heard by the Kerala High Court.
The labour minister said he had a dispassionate view about the incident, and alleged that the company was hostile in its approach to the government.
On social media, there was criticism about the attitude of labour unions to company managements. “Those who provide jobs to people in Kerala should buy bulletproof vests for their managing directors”, wrote one commentator.
