Thousands of iPhones looted, cars destroyed at Wistron's Kolar plant, company suffers loss of Rs 437 cr

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BENGALURU: Thousands of iPhone were either looted or damaged and infrastructure worth crores were damaged during Saturday's (December 12) vandalism at Wistron's Kolar plant in Karnataka carried by its employees and staff members. 

Wistron Corporation, a contract manufacturer for Apple Inc, said it suffered losses worth over Rs 437 crore due to violence perpetrated by a section of workers over salary issues at its manufacturing plant in Karnataka. A large number of employees allegedly carried out arson, loot and violence at Wistron's Narasapura manufacturing plant in Kolar district over some wage-related issues on Saturday, police said.

Accordin to the police, the employees, who were angered over salary issue, allegedly ransacked the building, damaged vehicles, set them on fire, damaged costly equipment including machines and computers. On December 14, the company, which has already filed a complaint at the Vemagal police station, expressed deep shock over the incident. In the complaint, the company's executive TD Prashanth has stated that office equipment, mobile phones, production machinery and related equipment worth Rs 412.5 crore were lost.

Among other things, infrastructure worth Rs 10 crore, Rs 60 lakh worth cars and golf carts, smartphones and other gadgets worth Rs 1.5 crore suffered damage, were stolen or lost. According to the complaint, 5,000 contract labourers and about 2,000 unknown culprits carried out the vandalism at the facility. According to PTI, the police have so far arrested 149 people and detained a few others.

"We are deeply shocked by events at our Narasapura facility. We follow the law and are supporting the authorities with their investigation. The safety and well-being of our team members is always our top priority," Wistron Smart Devices, innovation business group, Managing Director Sudipto Gupta said in a statement.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan had condemned the incident and said stringent action would be taken against the perpetrators.

Political parties in Karnataka have sought a thorough probe into the violence at the plant as they expressed concerns about its possible impact on the investment-friendly image of the state.

Besides Apple iPhone, Taiwan-headquartered Wistron manufactures IT products for Lenovo and Microsoft.

Wistron is also one of the 16 entities that have received approval for incentive under the central government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) plan.