The administrative office of Vedanta's refinery unit at Lanjigarh in Orissa's Kalahandi district was ransacked by contract labourers, 35 of whom were arrested today.
The office was ransacked last night after Vedanta suspended its contract with L&T, an outsource company for expansion activities of the refinery.
The state government had earlier allowed Vedanta to expand the capacity of its refinery from 1 mtpa to 6 mtpa.
L&T had engaged about 5,000 workers on contract but served retrenchment notices to the labourers following the suspension of the contract by Vedanta.
Angry over their loss of employment, the contract labourers attacked the administrative office within the plant premises demanding three months salary as compensation, while the company agreed to pay remuneration for 45 days.
"Properties worth over Rs 50 lakh had been damaged due to the attack," a Vedanta spokesman said.
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"We had to suspend contract with an outsource company after the Centre withdrew forest and environment clearance to our project. The company had outsourced its expansion works to different companies," Vedanta Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mukesh Kumar said.
Kumar blamed outsiders for the incident saying they instigated a section of contract workers to indulge in violence. "When the dispute with workers was about to be resolved, outsiders interfered," he said.
Police have registered a case under various sections of the IPC and Criminal Law Amendment Act against the arrested workers.