Vehicular movement on Chandra-Nabinagar highway in Gazipur remained suspended since Monday and the adjacent areas turned into a battle field as workers of two garment factories, including that of a Beximco, clashed with law enforcers over the payment of their dues.
Unruly workers set a vehicle on fire on the highway in addition to torching a factory in Savar, forcing the authorities to shut a number of factories in Savar and Gazipur areas.
In Gazipur, the workers of Beximco Industrial Park blocked Chandra-Nabinagar highway around 9 am demanding that their dues be cleared while the workers of Doreen garment factories took to the streets seeking reopening of their factories.
Quoting workers, Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Kashimpur Police Station, said the authorities of Beximco factory failed to clear the wages of the workers after the arrest of businessman and ex-PM Hasina’s adviser Salman F Rahman.
The workers of Doreen factory got agitated and staged demonstrations on the highway after they found their factory closed in the morning.
On information, industrial police, police and army personnel reached the spot and tried to disperse them.
A chase and counter-chase took place between workers and the law enforcers, leaving several people injured.
At one stage, the workers set fire to a vehicle.
The workers of Beximco and Doreen factory entered the Amazon Knitwear Ltd, located in Ashulia Jirani Nabi Textile area and forced the authorities to suspend their production, said officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station Abu Bakar.
At one stage, the owners and staff of the Amazon factory beat up some workers at the factory.
Later, some outsiders carried out vandalism inside the factory and sent one fire that spread to the workers' colony, gutting 20 rooms.
On information, firefighting units rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire after three hours.
The workers of the Beximco factory have been staging demonstrations for the past seven days.
