Thirty-two people, including Shiv Sena corporator Kishori Pednekar, were arrested on Thursday for allegedly vandalising the office of 'The Week' news magazine in Mumbai and injuring three employees over regularising the services of some workers, police said.
According to police, 32 people, including Pednekar, her party workers and some others employed through a job consultant at the magazine's marketing and circulation office in Marathon Innova building near Peninsula Park at Lower Parel ransacked the reception area.
Three senior employees of the weekly magazine of Malayala Manorama Group of Publications were manhandled by the protesters, police said.
The Malayala Manorama group in a press statement said that "they (protesters) went to the cabin of Geogi Eapen Zachariah, deputy general manager, Sales. Under the pretext of holding discussions, they began abusing Zachariah. When Zachariah tried to reason with them, he was slapped and kicked repeatedly by around seven of these activists who also snatched his phone. They also damaged the landline telephone connection inside Zachariah's cabin".
"The mob also manhandled Shree Kumar Menon and Varghese Chandy, both senior general managers of Malayala Manorama group when they tried to reason with the mob to pacify them, and verbally abused the entire staff," the press note stated.
The activists demanded an immediate settlement of a labour dispute which has been sub-judice at a Mumbai court, the press note said, adding that the matter was taken to the court by Shiv Sena-affiliated Bharatiya Kamgar Sena.
According to police, 38 workers, employed through a job consultant, had been demanding that they be absorbed in the magazine's service. The organisation had been paying salaries to those workers through the consultant.
