Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed serious concern about the violence at the iPhone manufacturing facility near Bengaluru, reported NDTV.
On December 12, workers at Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India Pvt Limited’s plant in Narasapura area of Kolar district in Karnataka vandalised the facility over non-payment of promised wages. The protestors stole iPhones made at the plant, burnt vehicles and vandalised property.
The damage was estimated to be approximately Rs 437 crore, according to a police complaint by Wistron. Operations were suspended at the plant, located about 60 kilometres from Bengaluru. Nearly 160 people have been arrested in connection with the violence.
“We have taken action,” Yediyurappa told the media on Thursday. “It is a very important foreign company and this should not have happened. The PM is also very much worried about this development.”
The chief minister said that he had passed on instructions to ensure that such cases do not happen again. “We will give full support to that company, without any problem let them continue protection,” Yediyurappa said, according to NDTV.
Taiwanese contractor Wistron is Apple’s top supplier in the world, and makes iPhone 7 and the second generation iPhone SE devices in the country. Following the violence, Apple Inc said it was investigating if its contractor had flouted supplier guidelines.
The police said after the coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed in March, salaries of workers earning between Rs 15,000 and Rs 21,000 per month, were cut by Rs 7,000-Rs 9,000.
During the violence, the company alleged that four cars, two golf cars, the canteen area, television sets, laptops, printers, phones, production machines, construction site containers, water purifiers, an ATM machine, personal documents, cash and more items were destroyed during the incident. The police said the total loss can be evaluated only after an assessment by the insurance company.
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