Bengal tea gardens brew political tension

KOLKATA: Starvation deaths in Dooars tea gardens of north Bengal are slowly taking a political turn as opposition parties like CPIM and BJP are whipping the issue up to make it a poll plank.

Some three lakh people are employed in the Dooars gardens and several have died apparently even as the much awaited revival package for the industry waits to see the light of the day.

In an interesting twist, the CID has summoned noted tea baron GP Goenka, chairman, Duncans Industries soon after CM Mamata Banerjee left for north Bengal on an ad ministrative tour on Sunday. CID sources said the government has directed the agency to investigate the closure of the group's gardens in the Dooars, which have also witnessed some deaths over the past few months. Officials from Duncans appeared before the investigators too on Monday. The case was handed over to the CID by the government.