Industry upset with shoe tycoon's murder

Ashish Dey, the chairman of Shree Leathers, possibly the largest private leather goods company in India, was assassinated earlier this morning at Jamshedpur by unknown miscreants.

Dey, a resident of Jamshedpur, and his family were receiving extortion threats from groups in Jharkhand and other states.

The family was divided between Jamshedpur and Kolkata, where his other brothers resided.

Dey was shot in the Sakchi area of Jamshedpur near his residence as he rode a motorbike on his way to a meeting a little before 9am.

The incidence of extortion and blackmail in Jharkhand in general and Jamshedpur in particular has been rising because several gangs have shifted from Bihar following improvement of the law and order situation there, said R N Gupta, president of the Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce.

In the last six months, several promoters in Jamshedpur had been kidnapped and at least two of them were known to have paid money for their release, he added.

Reiterating that the ganglords were based in Bihar, Gupta said while the local police force was co-operative, the gangs clearly enjoyed the protection and support of leading state politicians and therefore were promptly released after arrest by the local force.

"We have no complaints against the local force- the problem is with the headquarters", he said.

Another member of the chamber went a step further said the business community faced severe lack of security as anti-socials were moving about freely without any fear.

Besides very poor infrastructure, the local police force faced interference from top leaders at Ranchi, the member confirmed on the condition of anonymity.

Gupta said crimes like "lock-breaking, dacoity, theft and kidnapping for ransom were rising, with crimes being committed both in the urban centres or on roads connecting towns to factory areas".

He added that the Bihar based gangs killed with impunity because of their assurance of protection from top state and central leaders.

Interestingly, both industry representatives said that Naxalites posed a very different problem.

Naxalites generally levied a cess or percentage-based tax on the perceived value of a mineral or produce being extracted from a remote area and shipped area, on the pretext that the benefits of such extraction was not flowing back into the affected communities and that such a levy was its substitute.

Naxalites more often than not attacked security forces or related agencies or their informers who they saw as being part of a larger machinery that exploited poor local communities.

"They do not killing if a ransom is not paid or any extortion demand is ignored by a small trader in a local area- they will at worst stop him from working there", said the member.

Naveen Singh, the superintendent of police of Purbi Singhbhum district, said that in this case, the killers could have come from the North-East over a property dispute arising out of a recent transaction in Nagaland.

Sree Leathers, based in Kolkata, was established by a freedom fighter who believed in 'swadeshi' or self-reliant industry, in Jamshedpur in the 1930's.

It had over 200 stores in India, mostly in eastern India, and three stores overseas in areas with large Indian populations like London and New York.

It was a seller and exporter of the entire range of leather products and also items like shoes, bags, belts etc. from manmade leather substitutes like PU and nylon-based fabrics.

The company did not divulge turnover figures because it was privately held but market sources pegged it at Rs 400 crore.