COIMBATORE, India, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Layoffs at an Indian auto parts manufacturer prompted angry workers to beat a company official to death, authorities say.
Police said Wednesday that Roy George, human resources vice president at Pricol in Coimbatore in India's Tamil Nadu state, was killed when four or five members of an unauthorized union broke into his office and attacked him with iron rods, CNN reported.
Police superintendent N. Kannan said George, 47, died from head injuries. He added that nine people had been arrested in connection with the slaying.
Local officials told the U.S. broadcaster the incident reminded them of the beating death in New Delhi last year of the Indian head of an Italian company, allegedly at the hands of a mob of fired employees.
CNN also said hundreds of Indian Jet Airways flights were canceled in August after pilots struck over the firing of two of their colleagues.
