3 metro rail stations reopen after 2 hrs, road traffic returns to normal

Readymade garment workers on Sunday blocked roads and staged protests in Mirpur, in the capital, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000.

They clashed with police repeatedly, with both sides chasing each other. At one point, protesters set fire to a police vehicle beneath the Mirpur 11 Metro Rail Station.

The clashes and chases took place between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm today. Police later dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas shells and sound grenades and charging them with batons, allowing traffic to return to normal.

Earlier in the day, around 8:00 am, workers from several garment factories blocked the road at the Mirpur 10 intersection, disrupting traffic in the area.

When police attempted to remove them, clashes broke out between the two sides at around 11:15 am. The two sides engaged in chases for half an hour.

According to witnesses, police repeatedly urged the workers to leave the road. At one point, the workers began throwing bricks and stones at police, who responded by charging them with batons and chasing them.

Police also used water cannons, sound grenades and tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.

The workers scattered but later regrouped and resumed throwing bricks and stones at police from different directions.

Around 12:30 pm, a police vehicle was set on fire beneath the Mirpur 11 Metro Rail Station. The fire damaged the metro rail station's water supply line. A gate on the eastern side of the station remains closed.

Khalid Hasan, a security guard at the metro rail station, said the Mirpur 10, Mirpur 11 and Pallabi stations were closed from noon to 2:30 pm following clashes between protesters and police.

Md Hanif, inspector (operations) at Pallabi police station, told Prothom Alo that the protesters left the road around 1:00 pm, allowing traffic to return to normal.

Earlier, Saiful Islam, a sub-inspector at Mirpur police station, told Prothom Alo that garment workers had gathered at several locations in Mirpur in the morning before blocking the road at the Mirpur 10 intersection.

Police were subsequently deployed to the scene, he added.

Garment workers had also blocked roads in Mirpur on Saturday, making the same demand. Traffic remained suspended from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm that day in Mirpur 10, Mirpur 11, Mirpur 12 and surrounding areas.