Alipurduar tea estate abandoned after 'tiff'

TT, Alipurduar: The management of Alpurduar's Ramjhora Tea Estate has abandoned the garden, alleging lawlessness.

No notice announcing closure or suspension of work has been issued since the decision on Monday night. Union leaders have approached officials of the labour department, seeking their intervention.

Sources said a female worker at manager R.P. Thakur's bungalow had accused him of misbehaving with her on Sunday. On Monday morning, instead of joining duty at the bungalow, she went to the garden and joined others in plucking tea leaves, the sources said.

Later, garden officials did not weigh the leaves plucked by the woman worker. Annoyed, her co-workers went to the manager's office and protested, leading to altercations. Later in the evening, the manager and his deputies managers left the garden.

Thakur could not be contacted. S. Guha Thakurta, secretary of Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Association, said the manager had claimed he was attack. Unions contested the version. "Nothing major happened on Monday for which the manager and others had to leave the garden," said Gopal Pradhan, president, Dooars Cha Bagan Workers' Union.