A garment worker was killed and over a dozen injured as police went for action to disperse the protesting workers of a readymade garment factory at Dhaka Export Processing Zone on Dhaka-Tangail Highway at Ashulia under Savar upazila, on the outskirts of Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
The deceased is Jestim Akhter, 32.
Superintendent of industrial police in Ashulia, Md Asaduzzaman, said that she died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital where she was taken after being injured by getting hit on the head by an iron pole while escaping from the demonstration.
Over 300 workers of export-oriented Lenny Fashions Ltd at DEPZ blocked the busy Dhaka-Tangail Highway at Ashulia demanding at about 6:30am demanding their dues.
Workers said that police charged baton on the demonstrators, fired tear gas shells and sprayed hot water to disperse them from the highway while thousands of people faced traffic jam at both the end of their blockade.
Over a dozen of workers were injured in the police action, they said, adding that they found Jesmin lying beside an iron pole and rushed her to DMCH where she died.
The other injured ones were given treatment at different local clinics and pharmacies, they said.
Workers said that the Indian owner of the garment industry did not pay their lay off period wages though the factory was shut down on March 2020.
Ashulia police duty officer Nasrin Afroz said that the industrial police dispersed the workers from the road and resumed movement after an hour.
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