Police said the hotel owner hit the 27-year-old master cook, a parotta maker, when he was asleep in the shop at around midnight.
The owner had arranged for a loan to the cook from a a private finance company.
Police said a heated argument broke out between the two after the cook said he was quitting his job and the owner insisted that he settle the loan amount and then leave. The hotel owner later hit the man with a crowbar when he was asleep, killing him on the spot.