Find root cause of Manesar violence: Suzuki

He thanked Hooda for the support and cooperation provided to Maruti Suzuki after the July 18 violence in which a senior executive of the company died and 100 others were wounded.

Hooda assured that the culprits would be punished. He said Suzuki,who is on a week-long visit to India,was “satisfied with the steps we have taken after the incident”.

“Production has started. In the next seven to 10 days full production will start,” the Chief Minister said.

Maruti Suzuki India chairman R C Bhargava described Suzuki and Hooda’s meeting as “courtesy call”,but admitted that Manesar was on the table. CEO of Maruti Suzuki, Shinzo Nakanishi,was also present at the meting.

Bhargava said Suzuki requested Hooda that the SIT “must find the root cause of what actually took place and why it took place because we must know the root cause of the whole incident”.

Asked if the sacking of 500 workers after the violence was discussed with the Chief Minister,he said: “The Chief Minister is of the view that anybody who is guilty must be punished. SIT investigation is still on and we have to wait for the investigation.”

The company had fired the workers stating it had “lost confidence with them” because of their alleged role in the violence.

Asked if more workers could be sacked,he said: “No,not at all. Unless some more people come up in the course of investigation,there will not be termination.”

Bhargava allayed fears that Maruti Suzuki would move out of Haryana. “We are definitely continuing in Manesar. Haryana is the first home for Maruti Suzuki,” he said.

Hooda said the company’s plan to invest Rs 4,000 crore to set up a new plant in Gujarat was an old project. “They had planned it three years ago. They are investing more here (in Haryana),” he said.