Indian steel manager is 'burned alive' by fired employees after signing their dismissal letters



A senior executive at a steel factory in Eastern India has been burned alive by workers who were protesting at losing their jobs.

R.S Roy, a deputy general manager at the Graphite India Limited's steel unit in Orissa state, was set upon after he signed dismissal letters for about a dozen workers at the factory, according to local police.



Superintendent Ajay Kumar Sarangi said the angry mob stopped Roy's car and attacked him before setting him and his vehicle on fire. He later died on the way to hospital.

Car attack: R.S Ray's vehicle was set on fire by protesting ex-employees, causing him fatal injuries

Police have arrested two people while a special squad has been formed to apprehend the remainder.



The assault came following more than a year of growing tensions over workers at the factory. 54 employees had been suspended earlier, but about 12 of them were finally fired on Thursday.



The company had suspended about 54 workers earlier. About 12 of them were finally fired Thursday, Sarangi said.

It is not the first time such an incident has occurred in India. In September 2009, angry workers at an auto-parts manufacturing company in the south of the country beat a human resources vice-president to death after 42 of them were laid off.



And in 2008, the Indian head of Italian company Graziano Transmissioni was allegedly killed by a mob of employees who had been fired.



Despite its rapid economic growth in recent years, companies in India have often been faced with tough labour due to archaic laws and company policies on hiring and retrenchment.

Some business consultants in India have blamed such incidents on either a lack of transparency in retrenchment or layoff policies.