Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – At least 50 people were injured when demonstrating workers of a garment factory clashed with law enforcers in Ashulia on Monday.
“Nearly 2000 workers of Fashion Knit Composite factory located at Jamgarah began demonstration Monday morning demanding immediate removal of the company’s administrative officer and accountant,” Mokter Hossain, Deputy Director of Industrial Police, told BBN.
Mr. Hossain also said the workers alleged that the two officials used to misbehave with them without any reason on Sunday. But the authorities of the company have informed the workers that they would not remove the two officials from their posts, he added.
Police and witnesses said the workers went to the factory Monday morning and became agitated after they saw a termination list of 102 coworkers hanging in front of the main gate.
The agitating workers of the knit factory blocked the Dhaka-Tangail Highway that connects 16 northern districts of the country with Dhaka for one and a half hours from 6:30am and vandalized vehicles, they added.
Police charged batons and fired several rounds of teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators and managed to clear the highway around 8:00am.
Additional police forces have been deployed in the area to bring the situation under control.
The garments sector in Bangladesh has about 5,000 factories including about 2,000 in the knitwear segment and 3,500 in woven, with about 500 involved in both segments.
The sector employs about 3.5 million workers, about 85 per cent of them women.
BBN/SSR/AD-24July12-11:35 am (BST)
