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| Saturday, 14 August 2004 |
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Police say Bata fire sabotage by Asanga Warnakulasuriya The fire that broke out at the Ratmalana Bata warehouse on Thursday night was caused by sabotage, Mount Lavinia Police said yesterday. Preliminary investigations had revealed that an armed gang of four had entered the warehouse premises around 9.15pm threatening the security guards on duty, Mt. Lavinia HQI Chief Inspector K. Athukorala told the Daily News yesterday. The suspects wearing black masks had allegedly forced the guards to consume liquor at gun point, he added. The guards had said that soon after the suspects had entered the warehouse, the fire broke out following an explosion. Police suspect that petrol bomb would have ignited the flames. Around 40 firefighters of the Fire Brigade and the Air Force who rushed to the scene managed to bring the blaze under control around midnight. It was completely brought under control yesterday morning, Police said. The damage caused by Bata warehouse blaze in Ratmalana has been estimated to be around Rs 40-50 million, Police said. On directions of the Mt. Lavinia SSP Willie Abeynayeka, a special Police team had been deployed to nab the suspects. Bata Marketing Manager Ifthiquar Sameem told the Daily News that the company had suffered a loss of around Rs 50 million owing to yesterday's act of sabotage. "Actually it was not the main Bata storage that was set on fire. This was only a small rented depot at Katubedda where we used to store products. We were in the process of removing the stock from the main factory when we got to know of the incident. Sameem further said that the future steps of the company would depend on how soon they will be able to solve the employees' problems. The Bata management and a number of trade unions have been engaged in a tussle over a demand for the reinstatement of terminated union members and a Voluntary Retirement Scheme. The resulting strike has led to heavy losses for the Canadian shoe company. Bata Sri Lanka Managing Director Kym Bradley was due to fly to Singapore to discuss the situation with officials at the regional head office. |
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