Workers from various garment manufacturers have blocked the roads in Dhaka’s Mirpur area to protest against the price hike of daily essentials.
The demonstration started at Mirpur-13 around 11am on Saturday. Thousands of workers from adjacent garment factories joined the protest in the area till 2:30pm.
Later, the demonstrators blocked Mirpur Circle 10, causing heavy traffic congestion in the area.
The protesting workers then took position at Mirpur-11 and had a chase and counter chase with the police.
To take control of the situation, police baton-charged and shot tear shells at the protesters.
“Police held some eight to ten of the protesters over the incident”, a police officer from Pallabi police station told UNB reporter on the spot.
After that, the protesters burnt three police motorcycles and vandalized a vehicle of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) parked in front of Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium at Mirpur-10.
After police detained some of the protesters they left the area.
The workers demanded the government to raise their salaries or reduce the prices of all commodities during the demonstration.
One of the protesters said the factory owners were not increasing the wages while an egg cost Tk15. “I don't know what to do to survive in this situation.”
Another worker said: "An assistant is paid Tk8,000 each month. How can one live a month on that little salary?”
Kafrul police station Inspector Kamrul Islam said law enforcers were trying to remove protestors from the road to avoid any untoward situation and traffic jam.
On Thursday, the workers had mounted another protest demanding the same.
