Two held after mob sets upon car carrying Radhey Shyam Roy, who dies later from his injuries

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Indian police have detained two people after an angry mob of sacked workers burned to death a senior executive of a steel factory, an official said.

After learning they had been laid off, about a dozen workers attacked a vehicle carrying Radhey Shyam Roy as he was leaving the factory in eastern Orissa state on Thursday, dousing the Jeep with petrol and setting it on fire, said police superintendent Ajay Kumar Sarangi.

Two other people in the vehicle were allowed to flee but Roy, 59, was trapped inside and later died of severe burns, Sarangi said.

Police were questioning two workers who are likely to be arrested on murder charges, Sarangi said. The steel factory is in Bolangir district, 250 miles (400km) west of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state.

Incidents of industrial violence are common in India, where workers often target executives in cases of wage disputes and job losses.

In 2008, scores of dismissed employees of an Italian manufacturing company, Graziano Trasmissioni India, used iron rods and wooden sticks to beat to death the company's local chief executive officer on the outskirts of New Delhi.