NEW DELHI, India - September 23, 2009 - Angry workers beat to death a human resources vice president after he laid off 42 employees at an auto-parts manufacturing company in southern India, police said Wednesday.

Roy George was vice-president for human resources at Pricol, the auto-parts company.

Some four to five workers, belonging to a union not recognized by the company, barged into his office and beat him up with iron rods, said N. Kannan, a police superintendent of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state.

George, 47, died from his head injuries Tuesday, Kannan told CNN.

Police have arrested nine people and are expected to round up more.

Last year the Indian head of an Italian company died after allegedly being beaten by a mob of fired employees.

More than 60 people were charged with the murder of the chief executive of Graziano Transmissioni near New Delhi.

Earlier this month, India's Jet Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights after pilots struck work over the firing of two of their colleagues in August.

Companies in the South Asian nation, despite its rapid economic growth in recent years, have often been faced with tough labor issues because of archaic laws and company policies on hiring and retrenchment.

Business consultants in India blame such labor standoffs on what they call lack of transparency in retrenchment or layoff policies.

Hiring and firing conditions are often not explained to workers by their companies, said Rajeev Karwal, founding-director of Milagrow Business and Knowledge Solutions.

Issues could spiral out of control if the businesses and bureaucrats are seen in a "corrupt nexus" by the employees seeking reprieve from labor authorities, he said.