A businessman from the city of Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia has killed an employee after he demanded payment for his work, Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reports.

Several minibus drivers, Uzbek nationals, employed in a small private-hire company went on strike following a salary cut. In the evening they gathered in the garage waiting for their boss to arrive.

When he came, the irritated drivers started a squabble.

“You cut our salary and took away our passports!” they were heard shouting. “We can’t even leave you. We are like slaves.”

All of a sudden the businessman took out his pump-action gun and fired at the crowd – wounding 47-year-old Aktam Khuzhamuratov.

Without paying any attention to the man, the businessman then left the premises. The wounded man was taken to hospital where he died shortly afterwards, leaving a wife and two teenage sons in Uzbekistan.

The businessman has been arrested and an investigation is now underway.