WOGS GO WACK PACK ON ITALIAN CAR PARTS MANUFACTURER

CEO murdered by mob of sacked Indian workers
( Parth Sanyal/Reuters)
Thousands of protesters recently forced Tata to halt work on the plant being used to produce the world's cheapest car

Rhys Blakely in Bombay
Corporate India is in shock after a mob of sacked workers bludgeoned to death the chief executive who had dismissed them from a factory in a suburb of Delhi.

Lalit Kishore Choudhary, 47, the head of the Indian operations of Graziano Transmissioni, an Italian-headquartered manufacturer of car parts, died of severe head wounds on Monday afternoon after being attacked by scores of laid-off employees, police said.

The incident, in Greater Noida, just outside the Indian capital, followed a long-running dispute between the factory's management and workers who had demanded better pay and permanent contracts.

It is understood that Mr Choudhary, who was married with one son, had called a meeting with more than 100 former employees - who had been dismissed following an earlier outbreak of violence at the plant - to discuss a possible reinstatement deal.

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A police spokesman said: "Only a few people were called inside. About 150 people were waiting outside when they heard someone from inside shout for help. They rushed in and the two sides clashed. The company staff were heavily outnumbered."

Other executives said they were lucky to escape with their lives. "I just locked my room's door from inside and prayed they would not break in. See, my hands are trembling even three hours later," an Italian consultant, Forettii Gatii, told a local newspaper.

More than 60 people were arrested and more than 20 were in hospital yesterday.

A spokesman for the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry said: "Such a heinous act is bound to sully India's image among overseas investors."

The murder has stoked fears that outbreaks of mob rule risk jeopardising the subcontinent's economic rise.

In the most high-profile incident so far, thousands of violent protestors recently forced Tata, the Indian conglomerate that owns Land Rover and Jaguar, to halt work on the plant being built to produce the world's cheapest car - the £1,250 Nano. The move could result in nearly £200 million in investment written off.

Tata halted work three weeks ago, claiming it could not guarantee its workers safety at the factory in the state of West Bengal. In a rare show of support for a competitor, the billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, one of India's most powerful businessmen, said that the Nano crisis showed how protestors were creating a "a fear-psychosis to slow-down certain projects of national importance."

Other companies, including Vedenta, the London-listed mining company, have encountered similar problems in India.

In a statement issued from Rivoli in Italy, Graziano said that some of Mr Choudhary's attackers had no connection to the company. It added that the chief executive was killed by "serious head injuries caused by the intruders."

"We absolutely condemn the attack," Marcello Lamberto, the head of Oerlikon Segment Drive Systems, which owns Graziano, said.

"This is by no means a regular labour conflict but is truly criminal action. The whole of Oerlikon Group is close to the family of Mr Chaudhary in this terrible moment."




Have your say

I wondered how long it would take before the masses would revolt against the substandard working conditions that we revolted against in our own industrial revolution. Of course investors will simply move their operations to more desperate areas where people will put up with anything - Africa's next

CJ, Apache Junction, Arizona, USA

I wonder if the objective of the meeting was really to reinstate anyone. I doubt they would have beat this guy if he was giving them back their jobs. Prob was another public relations meeting, like those PR experts in Washington, DC are trying to pull on us

Todd, St Pete, FL, US

Shocking, disgraceful, disgusting and a warning for any investor to go to India. Interesting to note is that some of the attackers were not even related to the company. That throws light what criminalization of politics can bring in a culture. While India is a great nation this needs to stop!

Ray Kar, Cincinnati, Ohio

If you can't or won't share the pie with any humane equity then the children are bound to get rebellious. Much of india has no safety net and works who loose jobs or can't find jobs become so desperate that they commit suicide. Do the elite ruling class and their CEO'S shed a tear for them?

ralph wheelock, Honolulu, usa

Perhaps if a few more Exes had a little more fear put in them by the masses we wouldn't have to be bailing out Wall Street to the tune of a Trillion dollars while those Execs walk away with their tens of millions in bonuses...

Not that violence is justified but you can bet Execs would think twice.

Rob, St Paul, USA

India - another failed state in the making. In the west this would simply not be accepted, fanatical Hinduism will be a big problem in the next 20 years. The lower castes have been treated abysmally for their entire history, only a matter of time before they rebel as above.

Marcus, London,

Here in the US we give CEOs huge salaries when they fire thousands of workers... Violence is not the answer but we need to change the direction and mentality of our government.

othello cato, boston, ma, usa

"Tata halted work three weeks ago, claiming it could not guarantee its workers safety at the factory in the state of West Bengal."

They couldn't guarantee the worker's safety? Looks like the workers are turning the tables on whose safety cannot be guaranteed.

Geoff, New York, United States

The guy was trying to find a way to reinstate them, so they beat him to death.

Nice.

Gregor, San Diego, CA, USA

India needs to enforce law and order. Without it you can not create prosperity. There are outside forces trying to keep Indian society divided, and the nation weak. They must be brought under control. Communists and their dupes are my guess. India is a wonderful civilization, but must find unity.

Ron Wagner, Decatur, IL

Criminal action indeed, we are a people being boxed in by corruption ourselves. Every one of the failed bank CEO's will walk with millions and we will pay off the trillions with our childrens sweat and blood. Not what the founding fathers had in mind.

Russell, Atlanta,

...It looks like India must now prove to their globalist corporate masters,that they can subdue their cheap labor masses if they want continued investment......

Jeremy, Milwaukee, USA

"Truly criminal action" it may be, but the French Revolution was also a 'truly criminal action' that later largely absolved itself. The Bolsheviks similarly absolved itself in Russia. The Maoists of China as well. Even Cambodia faced a shameful period. India must come to grips with this.

L Swinford, Springfield, USA