MUMBAI, July 5: Employees of the 111-year-old Svadeshi Mills Company Limited, run by the Tata Group, were in for a rude shock today when they realised that their registered head office at Bombay House in Flora Fountain was abruptly closed down by the management.

Taking to The Indian Express on Saturday, the Vice President of the concerned Kamgar Sabha Union, Dhunji Naterwalla, informed, ``We union members are affronted by the manner in which the management has illegally broken the locks of our head office and replaced them with new ones in order to prevent us from entering inside.''

Naterwalla added that personal belongings of around 70 employees attached to the office are still inaccessible due to this closure and most of the workers are simply sitting inside the Bombay House building to somehow see what can be done.

An official notice dated July 4, though, has been stuck outside the employees office on the second floor intimating the workers of this development.

Signed by the Company Chairman DJ Madan, the notice states, ``Our mills, not being a diversified company, had to bear the brunt of a very severe financial crisis, as a result of which every cost that can be reduced has to be reduced.''