Four labourers were killed and five others injured in a clash between a labour union and a contractor in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday.
The clash took place inside the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus.
Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, who hails from Mandi, said the labourers were not paid their remuneration by the contractor, which led them to protest.
"The labourers held meeting with him (the contractor), talked to him but when he declined to acknowledge, they held a procession against him. The contractor ordered his men to open fire on the labourers who were protesting peacefully," said Thakur in Shimla.
The police is investigating the matter and a case of unlawful assembly under the arms act has been registered against the contractor.
