A group of people, belonging to a local farmer’s organisation, barged into NSL Sugar Factory in Bhusnoor village of Aland taluk on Sunday evening and broke open the office lock and vandalised furniture, computers and other material there.
Dharmaraj Sahu, president of Aland Taluk Sugarcane Growers Association, and a security guard of NSL Sugars, Gurunath Sherkhan, were injured in the incident.
CCTV footage of the incident, which went viral, shows a four-member gang, led by Dharmaraj Sahu, entering the main gate of the factory with wooden sticks and rods and breaking open the lock of the office.
Inebriated
Gurunath Sherkhan, speaking to The Hindu at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital here on Tuesday, said that Dharmaraj Sahu and his associates were drunk and tried to enter the factory at around 6 p.m, with an intention to assault factory vice-president Radhakrishna. In a clash between the factory officials and Dharmaraj Sahu, the later is said to have attacked the security guard with a stick for stopping them from entering the factory, legal officers of the factory Avinash Deshpande and Sangmesh Sthavarmath said.
However, Dharmaraj Sahu, who is admitted in the same hospital, has a different story to tell. The sugar factory has to clear a pending amount of ₹ 150 crore for sugarcane crushed during 2018-19, and ₹ 24 crore for 2013-14, he said.
Deadlines
Several deadlines have passed and the factory officials have failed to clear dues to sugarcane farmers, he said. “Angry over the delay in payments, we rushed to the factory to discuss the matter,” Dharmaraj Sahu said and added that the factory officials assaulted him.
He said that the factory has borrowed ₹ 15 crore loan by pledging agricultural land documents of farmers.
A case has been registered against Dharmaraj Sahu, Ashok Mainal, Shantappa Mainal and Gundappa Havappagol at the Nimbarga Police Station in Aland taluk.
