Kolkata: Two persons were arrested on Tuesday, three days after a group of 40-50 people allegedly barged into the Dum Dum Pramod Nagar factory of Eastern Organic Fertilizers Pvt Ltd, off Belgharia Expressway, assaulted several staffers, including senior officials, and allegedly demanded extortion money while threatening employees with dire consequences.The factory, which was shut since Saturday evening following the alleged attack, resumed operations on Tuesday after police intervened.The group allegedly demanded that people of their choice be appointed to different departments of the waste management plant.According to police, the arrested persons have been identified as Shyamal Pramanik and Rajib Sen. They were arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged at Dum Dum Police Station by Sudhir Satnaliwala, managing director of the company.“The duo was arrested for allegedly creating a ruckus inside the factory and assaulting staffers. They will be produced before a Barrackpore court on Wednesday. An investigation is on and we are also looking for others involved in the incident,” a senior police officer of the Barrackpore Commissionerate said.According to local sources, the incident occurred around 6.30 pm on Saturday at the solid waste management plant at Pramod Nagar dumping ground. The group allegedly threatened senior employees and demanded the appointment of people of their choice.Satnaliwala, the MD, however, said the prime accused named in the FIR are yet to be arrested.“They introduced themselves as associates of a local MLA and assaulted some of our senior staff, including plant in charge Ritesh Agarwal and site manager Rohit Singh, after they refused to comply with their demands. The group then created a ruckus inside the premises and demanded monthly extortion money,” Satnaliwala told TOI.They threatened employees, including security guards, against continuing to work, resulting in the closure of the plant. “With assurances from Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul and Baranagar MLA Sajal Ghosh, we have resumed operations at the factory,” the MD said.Dum Dum BJP MLA Arijit Bakshi denied any link with the accused. He said police had acted promptly on the complaint and arrested two persons, adding that the investigation should be impartial and anyone found guilty should be punished.Bakshi, however, claimed that the dispute may have arisen from protests by local residents against alleged anti-social activities at the site. “The drug use and oil theft were taking place inside the enclosure of the private plant on government land under SUDA(State Urban Development Authority). Local residents had been protesting against these activities for some time and a dispute broke out on Saturday night while they were protesting,” he said.
