Police fire teargas as garment workers clash with police in Ashulia, Mirpur

Photo: collected

Garment workers staged protests in Mirpur, Ashulia and Gazipur on Monday morning, with clashes between workers and police in Ashulia and Mirpur leading to teargas firing and brick-throwing.

Clashes broke out after 10am in the Narsinghpur and Nishchintapur areas along the Abdullahpur-Baipail road in Ashulia.

Eyewitnesses said workers first gathered outside Ananta and later moved in front of Ha-Meem, where brickbats were thrown.

Tensions escalated as workers from several factories attempted to block the road over their demands, prompting a confrontation with law enforcement personnel.

Police fired teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators after clashes and chases broke out between the two sides.

The situation remained tense, with workers and police facing each other. No immediate reports of casualties were available. Additional police personnel were deployed to maintain order.

Industrial Police-1 Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations and Intelligence) Shoheb Ahmmed said police were working to bring the situation under control and that additional personnel had been deployed.

In Mirpur, police dispersed garment workers who attempted to block the road in the Mirpur-10 area at around 9:15am.

Police fired teargas shells after workers threw bricks at them, eventually dispersing the protesters.

Mirpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Hafizur Rahman confirmed the incident, saying, "Workers came to block the road; we removed them."

Meanwhile, garment workers took to the streets in the Pollibiddut and Mouchak areas of Kaliakair Upazila in Gazipur at around 8:30am.

In response to the protests, authorities again declared several nearby industrial factories closed, including those in Mouchak, Pollibiddut, Sufipur and Horinghati along the Dhaka-Tangail highway.

The protests brought traffic to a complete halt along a 10-kilometre stretch of the highway.

Kaliakair Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shahidul Islam said workers had blocked the highway and started demonstrating in the morning.

BGB, police and other law enforcement agencies were deployed at the scene to control the situation, he added.