Maruti Manager Killed in Factory Riot in India

Violence escalated sharply at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.'s assembly plant in Manesar, India, on Wednesday when a manager died in a fire during a riot between workers and company security guards.

Protests began when Maruti suspended a worker earlier this week after an altercation with a supervisor. Scores of managers and workers were injured in the melee, and two Japanese executives were hospitalized, according to the company. Maruti calls the mayhem "an orchestrated act of mob violence."

More than 100 workers have been arrested, and authorities say they will charge rioters with murder and attempted murder.

Police have taken control of the factory outside New Delhi, where the fire reportedly damaged part of the assembly line. 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.

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.