Foxconn's workers arrested for trying to force entry into plant in S. India

Some 168 Indian workers from Foxconn India were arrested on Monday as they attempted to force entry into the mobile phone plant earmarked for closure at the end of the month.

About 250 people tried to enter the gates of the plant to punch the clock to claim wages, but were prevented from entering by the police, said E. Muthukumar, president of Foxconn India Employees Union.

He put the total number of people arrested at about 168.

However, a Foxconn spokesman declined to comment.

"We have taken them under preventive arrest and will be released in the evening," said C. Vijaya Kumar, superintendent of police at Kancheepuram district.

Muthukumar said the employees had been trying to gain entry in protest against the lack of any formal notice of closure.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Corporation, which trades as Foxconn, announced on Dec. 11 that it would close the factory, coming close on the heels of a similar move by Nokia and delivering a second blow to the government as it seeks to beef up the country's manufacturing sector.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronic goods and counted Nokia as a major client in India. Its plant in southern India employed about 1,700 workers.

Foxconn India once exclusively manufactured cellphone components for Nokia's India plant, which stands just a few blocks away and within the same campus. The Foxconn plant is in fact part of the Nokia Telecom Special Economic Zone at Sriperumbudur district, near Chennai city in south India. Enditem