Nine workers arrested for beating to death the manager at Allied Nippon in the Ghaziabad district of New Delhi. It happened as 400 workers held a protest at the factory.

Police in an industrial suburb of the Indian capital have arrested nine workers for allegedly beating one of their company managers to death over a labor dispute.

The attack on Yogender Chaudhary, an assistant general manager of auto-component firm Allied Nippon in Ghaziabad district, happened on Saturday as some 400 workers held an angry protest, authorities said.

District police chief Raghuvir Lal told CNN that nine men have been charged with the death of Chaudhury.

Lal did not elaborate on the dispute that protesting employees had with their company bosses, but news reports suggested workers were demanding reinstatement of some of their fired colleagues.

Officers were also investigating workers' allegations that Chaudhury had fired into the air as scuffles broke out with the striking staff, Lal said.

Allied Nippon officials were not immediately reachable for comments on Monday, but local media quoted a company executive as insisting the assault was "pre-meditated and unprovoked".