Maruti Manager Killed in Factory Riot in India

Violence escalated sharply at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.'s assembly plant in Manesar, India, the site of repeated protests over the past year. A Maruti manager died on Wednesday in a fire allegedly started by rioting workers.

Protests began when Maruti suspended a worker earlier this week after an altercation with a supervisor. More than 100 managers and workers were injured in the melee, and two Japanese executives were hospitalized, according to the company.

Police have taken control of the factory outside New Delhi, where the fire reportedly damaged part of the assembly line. More than 100 workers have been arrested, and authorities say they will charge rioters with murder and attempted murder.

Maruti is expected to suspend production at the facility, which has annual capacity of 550,000 vehicles or 40% of the company's total capacity. Output includes the popular diesel-powered Suzuki Swift hatchback and Swift Dzire sedan.

The company insists the incident does not stem from a dispute about wages or working conditions but from "an orchestrated act of mob violence."

Workers walked out of the Manesar plant three times last year, including a 33-day strike that caused Maruti's profits to plunge. The union complains that half the plant's 3,200 hourly employees are contract workers, who are paid about one-third as much as permanent employees.

The company is scheduled to open a third assembly facility in Manesar next year that would boost capacity by 250,000 units.