12 HOSPITALISED AFTER CLASH AT NATURE SECRETS FACTORY PREMISES

Clash between the dismissed Nature Secrets employees of the staff and the Police have resulted in 12 persons to be hospitalised:

One of Sri Lanka’s most popular beauty culture organizations is ‘Natures’ Secrets’ the factory of which is located at Millawa in Horana. Owing to a dispute between the Management and the members of the staff for matters related to salary increases and other benefits 130 workers had been dismissed. There had been talks and negotiations with the Commissioner of labour with regard to this conflict but had not got resolved. This conflict had led to a strike of the workers.
For those dismissed the Management had recruited a new batch of workers to replace those dismissed. Those dismissed had protested inside the premises of the Natures Secrets factory. The new recruits had been brought into the factory in two buses today the 2nd. At this time the angry protestors had attacked the bus. The Police and STF personnel amounting to about 500 had been summoned to bring the situation under control. The protestors had thrown stones and other objects at the Police and the STF personnel. They too had retaliated by firing rubber bullets in a mild manner at the protestors which had developed into a huge clash. The idea behind the firing of rubber bullets was to disperse the protestors, the dismissed workers.
It is learnt that 10 dismissed workers had masterminded this attack and the Police had been able to arrest them. During the clash 12 persons had been injured and had to be admitted to several hospitals in close proximity according to the nature of their injuries. Accordingly six of the injured had been admitted to the Horana hospital, two to the Homagama hospital and two others to the Padukka hospital. Among the injured there had been two Police personnel also.






Photographs and report by B.K. Kaththiarachchi