The fiasco at Haldia port took a bizarre turn on Sunday with the private sector cargo handler Haldia Bulk Terminals Pvt Ltd (HBT) claiming that three of its officers and their family members have been abducted in the wee hours from Haldia.

HBT is a joint venture between Mumbai-based ABG Ports and French logistics major Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA). The venture, which suspended operations at Haldia for more than a month citing lawlessness, referred to Sunday’s incident as “complete breakdown of law and order”.

The alleged development took place at a time when HBT was about to start work following a Court order to the police to ensure security.

In a statement, Gurpreet Malhi, Chief Executive Officer of HBT, said: “Three of our senior officers, — Capt. Manpreet Jolly, Jagadish Behara and Bushan Patil (including his wife and one-year-old daughter) were abducted this morning at about 1 am by a mob of about 50 unidentified persons (wearing monkey caps and mufflers)….”

According to Malhi, the officers and their family members were forced to leave Haldia “at gun-point” and threatened with “dire consequences” and “grievous bodily harm”.

“They were threatened and advised that should they ever set foot in Haldia again, they will face dire consequences,” he said in the statement.

Shocking, says CITU

Earlier, on September 28, HBT had said that the West Bengal Government had “failed to ensure minimum law and order at the port and its surroundings” when four of its employees were allegedly attacked by a violent mob.

“It is quite disgusting to realise that some vested interests are continuing to thwart the legitimate efforts of HBT to resume operations at HDC. It is apparent that these vested interests do not want HBT’s operations to resume even though the resumption is in the interest of State of West Bengal, the industry, the trade, KoPT and Haldia itself,” Malhi said.

Suvendu Adhikari, local Trinamool Congress MP, said the allegations by HBT were “fabricated”. The company was blackmailing and not doing business, he added.

Shyamal Chakraborty, State President of CITU, dubbed this as a “shocking” incident and a “major loss” to the State’s pro-industry image.

“With this, the minimum prospects of industrialisation are also getting spoilt. This is not a labour movement, but organised hooliganism. Such an incident cannot happen without active support of the State Government,” Chakraborty alleged.

KoPT in the meantime is mounting pressure on ABG-LDA to start operations or face termination of contract. The port authorities on Monday requested the Calcutta High Court to put a timeframe on the private handler to resume operations.

> ayan.pramanik@thehindu.co.in

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