Riot-Hit Car Maker Declares Lockout

India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki said Saturday it was locking out workers at one of its plants hit by a riot in which a manager burned to death and nearly 100 other executives were injured.The lockout at Japanese-owned Maruti's Manesar plant near New Delhi that produces 550,000 vehicles a year -- one-third of the company's annual output -- would continue until employee safety was guaranteed, the firm said."What's more important is the safety of my colleagues than producing some cars to make some money," Maruti Suzuki India chairman R.C. Bhargava told reporters.

Maruti Suzuki declared a lockout at its Manesar factory in northern India until local authorities complete their probe into a riot by some of its workers that killed a senior official.

Maruti Suzuki declared a lockout at its Manesar factory in northern India until local authorities complete their probe into a riot by some of its workers that killed a senior official.

India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki said on Saturday it was locking out workers at one of its plants hit by a riot in which one manager burned to death and nearly 100 other executives were injured.The lockout at Japanese-owned Maruti's Manesar plant near New Delhi that produces 550,000 vehicles a year -- one-third of annual output -- would continue until the safety of its employees could be assured, the company said.

The latest in a series of strikes at India's top car maker Maruti Suzuki came to an end on Friday, at a cost of $400 million in lost production and major damage to the group's reputation.Maruti, which is majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, said the 13-day strike at its Manesar plant was called off after an agreement between workers, the company and the Haryana state government.Operations at the north India car plant will resume on Saturday, a spokesman told AFP.