Gazipur garment workers go berserk after accident
A Correspondent, Gazipur
The Daily Star, Bangladesh
At least 30 people including six policemen were injured when garment workers clashed with law enforcers and blockaded Dhaka-Mymensingh highway for three hours after rumours spread that their three colleagues died in a road accident.
The agitated workers torched three buses, vandalised 12 vehicles on the highway and attacked policemen and fire engines that went there to bring the situation under control.
The workers also pelted brickbats on several garment factories when law enforcers took shelter there in the face of workers’ attack. The incident compelled eight factories to shutdown production for the day.
Witnesses said a Chandana-bound bus from Sadarghat in Dhaka ran over three garment employees — Kamal Hossain, 24, Sarker, 22, Yakub Ali, 36, — at Signboard Bus Stand area around 8:00am.
The three were rushed to Tongi 50-bed Government Hospital, from where Kamal was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
As police rushed to the spot to clear the blockade, the agitating workers attacked the law enforcers who in their defence took shelter in nearby garment factories.
Several policemen including the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Gazipur Atiqul Islam and Officer-in-charge of Jaydevpur Police Station Kamrul Islam were injured in the attack.
The unruly workers then took control of around four-kilometre of highway from Borobari to Maleker Bari. The incident left stranded vehicles in gridlocks.
The workers also prevented fire engines from extinguishing the vehicles in flames. They hurled brickbats on the fire engines which also hit Deputy Assistant Director of Fire Service Shahidur Rahman.
Police around 9:30am fired eight gunshots into the air and lobbed 15 teargas shells to disperse the mob.
Vehicular movement on the highway was restored around 11:00am after police were reinforced by the deployment of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), riot police.
Meanwhile, the workers of the attacked factories held three men — Shafiqul Alam, 24, Monir Hossain, 22, and Iqbal, 23, — and handed them over to police for their alleged involvement in vandalism
