Suzuki India workers' deadly rampage

There was deadly mayhem at a Maruti Suzuki car plant near New Delhi on Wednesday when workers attacked managers, leaving one person dead and many injured.

The manager, who declined to be identified, told AFP that a burned body had been recovered from the Manesar plant's main conference room after violence erupted late in the day.

"Production has been completely stopped," he said, adding that more than 40 managers and executives had been injured.

"We have not been able to identify the deceased person as he was charred beyond recognition," the official said.

In an earlier statement the carmaker, which is India's biggest and which is majority owned by Suzuki, said workers had set property on fire, ransacked offices and damaged facilities.

SO WHAT STARTED IT?

The company said the dispute began on Wednesday morning when a shop floor employee beat up a supervisor.

The workers' union then prevented management from taking disciplinary action, blocking managers from leaving the factory after work.

A union official told the Press Trust of India that the violence had been triggered by "objectionable remarks" made by the supervisor.

Deputy police commissioner Maheshwar Dayal said 80 workers had been arrested at the factory on Wednesday night, after clashes in which nine police officers were injured.

The Manesar plant, around 50km from New Delhi, employs 2000 people and normally produces up to 1200 of Maruti's top-selling Swift and A-Star hatchbacks and SX4 sedans daily.

A BIG BLOW

An extended shutdown would be a major blow for Maruti, which saw its profits slide 29 percent in 2011 on the back of a crippling labour strike and a slowdown in Asia's third-largest vehicle market.

A lengthy work stoppage in October at the Manesar plant and a nearby factory in Gurgaon resulted in a production shortfall of 40 000 vehicles. -AFP