Garment workers go on rampage

At least 50 people including 12 law enforcers were injured in a clash between police and workers of a readymade garment factory at Kanchpur, Narayanganj yesterday.
The clash erupted when the workers of SA Fashion & Apparels Ltd blocked the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. They vandalised 10 to 12 vehicles and set a bus ablaze.
Officer-in-charge of Sonargaon Police Station Mohammad Yunus Ali said about 7,000 workers started a demonstration at the factory around 8:00am demanding immediate reinstatement of their fellow workers who were recently terminated.
They damaged a number of windowpanes of the factory during the demonstration.
Around 9:00am, the workers took to the street and put a blockade on the highway near Nayabari area in Kanchpur to press home their demand. Traffic on the busy highway came to a complete standstill for almost an hour and a half during the time.
On information, police rushed to the spot and charged truncheons to disperse the agitators, which eventually triggered a violent clash.
Police fired at least 20 teargas canisters and 20 bullets to bring the situation under control.
A huge contingent of police personnel has been deployed in and around the area to avert any more untoward incident.
The authorities of SA Fashion & Apparels Ltd earlier sacked eight of their workers on charge of violating discipline in the factory.
Yesterday was the third day of the workers' demonstration against the termination of their fellow workers.