Four get life term for killing Italian company’s CEO in 2008

ON SEPT 22, 2008, LALIT KISHORE CHAUDHARY WAS BLUDGEONED TO DEATH BY 200 WORKERS AFTER THEY WERE SACKED FROM GRAZIANO TRASMISSIONI

Four workers were sentenced life imprisonment by the district and sessions court in Surajpur on Thursday for murder of managing director-cum-chief executive officer of an Italian multinational company — Graziano Trasmissioni — at Udyog Vihar in Greater Noida in 2008.

In 2008, Lalit Kishore Chaudhary, who was 44 then, was bludgeoned to death by 200 union workers after they were sacked from the company. The workers on September 22, 2008, had ransacked the company premises and broke down various cars.

Chaudhary, looking at the workers smashing the cars, came out of his office to pacify them. However, he was hit with hammers and sticks.

He was rushed to Kailash Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Om Prakash Yadav, additional district government counsel said, “In this case, a chargesheet was filed against 75 persons for murder. They had trespassed and created riot like situation. It was a brutal murder.”

Additional district judge Ram Naresh Maurya awarded life sentence to four men, who have been identified as Rajinder Kumar, Mohinder Singh, Pankesh Kumar and Sajjan Kumar. They were also charged a fine of ₹3,000 each.

Two accused Ram Charan and Anwar were awarded three years of imprisonment. Other accused Labh Singh and Gurnam Singh were awarded one year imprisonment each. Yadav said that Rajinder and Mohinder were the main accused and have been in jail already.

Yadav said that 67 people have been acquitted in the case and that around 50 other employees were injured as workers went on vandalising the Indian unit of the Italian company. It created an environment of fear in Greater Noida.

Chaudhary was a resident of Punjab and was staying in Sector 30 of Noida. He is survived by his wife, Ratna, who was then a senior Physics lecturer at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College. Their son was studying in Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi.

Graziano Transmissioni was facing protests for several months in 2008.

After the incident, the then Union labour minister, Oscar Fernandes, had mentioned that the incident should serve as a warning for the managements. He had said that the workers should be dealt with compassion.