The chief executive officer of a company was on Monday beaten to death by a group of dismissed employees inside office premises after a meeting, called to resolve dispute between them and management, failed.

L K Chaudhury, CEO of Gradiano in Udyog Vihar of Greater Noida, was killed when the agitating workers turned violent and beat him up, Senior Superintendent of Police (Noida) R K Chaturvedi told PTI.

As the clash erupted, Chaturvedi said, a security guard opened fire in air.

About 20 people were injured in the clashes. Chaudhury was rushed to Kailash hospital where he was declared brought dead.

There were about 200 former employees inside the premises when the incident took place. They were dismissed two months back for some reasons and were since then protesting against it.