20 injured in workers’ protest for Eid holiday

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Workers at two factories in Gazipur’s Tongi and Kaliakair have staged protests, blocked roads and vandalized demanding the extension of Eid holiday. At least 20 workers were shot in clashes with police.

Several policemen, including 25 to 30 workers, were also injured in the clashes. The critically injured have been shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Later, additional police went to the spot and took control of the situation. The incident took place around 11:30 am on Monday.

Injured worker Mizanur Rahman said, “One of our garment workers went to the office and talked to the representative of owner about the Eid holiday. He demanded 10 days leave for Eid on behalf of us. Seven days leave is granted from the owner. There was a quarrel about this matter.”

“When the worker came out, the police came and hit him on the head. Later other workers gathered and wanted to know the cause of his injury. At that time, the police fired at them before they understood anything. Many were shot,” he added.

Gazipur Industrial Police (Zone-2) Additional Superintendent of Police Jalal Uddin said garment workers of the Ha-meem Group staged a protest in Tongi’s Millgate area around 11:30 am on Monday demanding a 10-day holiday.

“At one stage, around noon, they vandalized the factory and blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. When the police tried to remove them from the highway, they started throwing bricks at the police. At one point, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to control the situation, and about half an hour later, traffic on the highway resumed,” he added.

Gazipur Industrial Police Inspector Komar Uddin said, “Even though the factory workers wanted a 12-day leave, they stopped the agitation after talking to the owner and granting them a 10-day leave. Additional police have been deployed in the premises of the two factories.”