Staff Reporter:
Clashes between police and garment workers staging demonstration for a higher minimum wage disrupted traffic in the capital’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, causing suffering to commuters.
Amid the tense situation, the authorities temporarily suspended passenger boarding and alighting at Mirpur-11 Metro Rail Station for nearly two hours to ensure passenger safety.
According to the MRT Police Control Room, metro rail operations resumed at 12:15pm after the situation improved.
The protest, which entered its fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, began around 9am when workers from different garment factories took to the streets and blocked roads in Mirpur-11 area, witnesses said.
The situation turned violent when police tried to remove the protesters.
The demonstrators threw brickbats at police, triggering clashes and repeated chases between the two sides.
Police also used sound grenades and tear gas to quell the sitation.
The blockade brought traffic to a standstill on both sides of the road between Mirpur-12 and Mirpur-10 from around 10am, causing severe public suffering.
Schoolchildren returning home after classes were among those worst affected.
Many remained stranded in school buses, vans, cars and rickshaws near the Mirpur-11 Metro Rail Station.
Witnesses said the loud sounds of sound grenades, smoke, shouting and people running for safety left many children frightened.
Some were seen crying, while others clung to their guardians as parents struggled to ensure their safety amid the traffic disruption.
Office-goers, patients and other commuters also faced considerable difficulties due to the prolonged congestion and road closures.
Speaking to reporters in Mirpur at noon, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Public Order Management (POM) South Division Md Touhidul Arif said people involved in the later phase of the protest were not genuine garment workers but miscreants pursuing other objectives.
He said some miscreants attempted to create disorder by erecting barricades on the road in the Mirpur-11 area around 9am.
“We are becoming tougher because those currently on the streets are not genuine garment workers or labourers in any sense. They are miscreants who have taken to the streets with a particular motive,” he said.
The police official claimed that genuine garment workers either returned home after their shifts or continued working in factories.
He said an investigation would be conducted to identify those instigating the unrest and determine their motives, adding that legal action will be taken based on the findings.
Asked about the number of police personnel injured and people detained in connection with the clashes, Touhidul Arif said the figures could not be confirmed immediately.
The information would later be provided through the police media cell, he added.
He said the situation around Mirpur-10 intersection and other major roads returned to normal by the noon, while police surveillance and searches continued in adjoining lanes and alleys to prevent further unrest.
