CEO Killed by Mob of Ex-Employees

Lalit Kishor Chaudhary, 44, CEO of Graziano India Pvt Ltd, an Italy-based multinational, was beaten to death by a mob of ex-employees in Greater Noida, India while trying to resolve a dispute between them and management. After being attacked by the mob with hammers and sticks, Chaudhary was rushed to Greater Noida's Kailash Hospital, but the doctors there declared him dead on arrival. According to Senior Superintendent of Police R K Chaturvedi as the clash erupted, a security guard opened fire in air. Click here for TV coverage.

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Six months before this incident some employees of Graziano had demanded salary hikes and permanent status and staged a sit-in at the gate of the company. During the unrest some of the protesters vandalized the company. Graziano India Pvt Ltd responded by dismissing over 250  people. The case was taken up by the Indian Labour Commissioner, who ordered the company to take them back.

On the Monday following the Commissioner's decision, some of the fired employees returned to work and got into a heated argument with the management staff. Things got out of hand and the returning employees went on a rampage. CEO Chaudhary, realizing there was a problem, went outside in order to calm things down:

Chaudhary, eyewitnesses said, tried to broker peace but some workers allegedly hit him from behind with hammers and sticks. "I was working inside when I heard a noise. I went to see what was happening. Before I could react, I was hit with sticks and rods by a mob. I have a leg fracture and head injuries," said Amarpal, a staffer. "Around 250 people barged in, snatched the stick from me and started beating me," said Hriday Anand, a security guard.

In their defense the dismissed workers claimed that they were verbally abused and made to apologize when they went to rejoin the company.

"This is false. Such behaviour was the reason for their dismissal. They did the same thing today," said K C Jain, director of the Graziano board.

Sixty-three people have been arrested. The violence left at least 50 executives and workers injured. Of the 44 staffers taken to hospital, 34 of them were yet to be discharged Monday night. Of these, 10 executives of the company remained in the intensive care unit.

Graziano officials complained about the slow response from the police. Security personnel and some other employees were forced to shut themselves up in the plant while waiting for the police to arrive. They said that hours after all the violence had subsided only about half a dozen Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel were posted outside and there was no officer with them. Which meant that, in case of an emergency, there was nobody there to order any action.

Police officers were not available for comment, until 9.45pm, when area superintendent of police, Babu Ram, claimed:

"We had sent force within 15 minutes of getting information. Later, we also arrested 63 persons for murder, rioting and other charges. We had even earlier received a note from the Italian Embassy about trouble at Graziano."

The plant, a 100% subsidiary of Graziano Italy, specializes in making gears and transmission systems for vehicles. It was set up in 1998 and commenced commercial production in 2000. The CEO L K Chaudhury had been in charge of the company for the last 10 years , he is survived by a wife and a son.

Millionaires Convicted of Slavery

Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. She was convicted with her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, 51, in December 2007 on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens. In other words human slavery.

The Sabhnani's of 205 Coachman Place East, Muttontown, Long Island were rich, in fact they were millionaires, who ran an international business distributing perfume. They were arrested in May 2007 by federal agents on charges of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves, since 2002, in their posh Long Island home.

"No one would ever think that human beings were being brought into the United States and held for slave labor, and beaten, and tortured in a beautiful mansion right here in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods on Long Island," said federal prosecutor Demetri Jones

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The case began to unfold when Samirah, one of the two women being held in the house, wandered away from the home and came across a Dunkin Donuts shop at 52 W. Jericho Tpke., Syosset, early Mother's Day morning. The manager, Adrian Mohammed, who initially thought she must be a homeless person, realized that something was wrong and called the cops. When the police arrived, Samirah led them back to the Sabhnani mansion, where Nona was found, cowering in a 3-by-3-foot closet under the stairwell leading to the basement. With the help of an interpreter they told the police their story of the horrible abuse they had suffered at the hands of their employers. The Sabhnanis were arrested and eventually released on $3.5 million bail.

The women were physically abused on a regular basis, with beatings administered by Varsha in one of the house bathrooms with Mahender looking on. Varsha Sabhnani liked to mix it up a little, dealing out beating with a wide variety of instruments. Rolling pins and broomsticks were her favorite, but she wasn’t above using bamboo canes in a pinch.

Varsha threw scalding water on Samirah at one point, cut the woman behind the ears with a paring knife another time, and forced the women to eat chili peppers until they vomited - then made them eat the vomit. The women were starved, given barely enough food to survive on. Eventually things got so bad for Samirah and Nona that they started hoarding food, keeping snacks that she was able to sneak out of the kitchen in a spot above a drop-ceiling panel.

These women were forced to work 21 hour days from 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. "seven days a week" according to prosecutors. When they were allowed to sleep, they had to sleep on 3-by-6 foot mats that were kept on the floor of one of the Sabhnanis two kitchens. If they slept late, they got a beating. Caught stealing food from the trashcan? That’s a beating. Looking master in the eye? Oh you can bet that’s a beating.

"In her arrogance, she treated Samirah and Enung as less than people," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetri Jones. "Justice for the victims: That's what the government is asking for."

"This did not happen in the 1800s," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko said during the trial. "This happened in the 21st century. This happened in Muttontown, New York."

Federal sentencing guidelines had recommended a range of 12 to 15 years in prison for Sabhnani, who was identified as the one who inflicted the abuse. In addition to prison, she will serve three years probation and pay a $25,000 fine.

Mahender Sabhnani, 51, who is free on bail while awaiting his own sentencing, wept as he watched his wife's punishment pronounced. He was charged with the same crimes because he allowed the conduct to take place and benefited from the work the women performed in his home, prosecutors said. He is expected to receive a much shorter prison term.