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Kanchpur turns battlefield

200 hurt as workers clash with guards, cops over death rumour of a worker; highways barricaded for 6 hours

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
At least 200 workers and security personnel of Sinha Textiles Group were injured, five of them with bullet, in a series of violent clashes between the industrial workers and ansars and guards at Kanchpur in Narayanganj yesterday.
Police opened fire, charged batons and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the agitating workers, who barricaded the Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong highways for about six hours, creating a 15-kilometre tailback.
Witnesses said the clash ensued in the morning at the factory complex after O a rumour spread that the security § guards of the private textiles group beat a worker to death for theft for not carrying his identity card with him.
The entire Kanchpur area and the highways turned into a battlefield,
leaving around 100 workers, 40 security guards and Ansars, 20 policemen, journalists and pedestrians injured during the clashes that erupted at about 8:00am.
The agitated workers ransacked some 25 factories and damaged 50 vehicles. They blocked the two highways from 8:00am to 1:30pm, leaving thousands of commuters stranded on both sides of the trouble spot.
RUMOUR SPARKS CLASH
The workers alleged the security
personnel of Sinha textiles, a sister concern of Opex Group owned by State Minister for Health Mizanur Rahman Sinha, beat up a worker, hanging him from a ceiling fan at about 7:30am for the trivial matter.
The workers claimed the worker had the identity card in his pocket but the security guards denied the claim. Several workers told this correspondent that the guards had been bossing them for long, which made the workers aggrieved.
The workers alleged when a female worker protested the torture, the guards attacked her too. But the textiles group authorities and the security guards claimed a female worker was caught while going out of the factory after stealing.
Witnesses said the workers then locked into an altercation and scuffle with the guards. At one point the guards rang the alarm bell and the Ansars opened fire on the workers.
The workers, armed with sticks, rods and bricks, attacked the guards' room. “I was resting in the barracks when the workers swooped on us,” a guard, Saniul Islam, told The Daily Star. “They injured around 35 guards, including me,” he added.
As the news spread through the industrial complex, several thousand workers attacked almost all the factories in the complex. They vandalised rooms, furniture, window panes, computers and damaged 14 vehicles.
The textile group has 20,000 workers, 200 security guards and 10 armed Ansars deployed in more than a dozen industrial units.
Meanwhile, rumours spread among the workers that the clash left three workers dead.
The workers then laid siege to the factory complex and started demanding “return of the “bodies” of the victims.
At one point the workers came out of the mills and barricaded the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways. They damaged some 40 buses, trucks and private cars, triggering panic among the commuters stranded on the road.
Police charged batons on the protesters, lobbed 15 teargas shells and fired 20 blank shots to disperse the workers, who pelted brickbats and stones at the law enforcers. Chased by the police, the workers moved towards Rupganj and vandalised factories in the area.
Police took control of the area around 1:30pm.
Around 20 policemen including Assistant Superintendent of Police (Circle A) Noor Mohammad, officers-in-charge of Sonargaon and Araihazar police stations Shahidul Islam and C Halim were injured.
Bullet-hit Rahim, Rubel, Saidur, Al-Amin, Biplab, Masud, Mominul, Ruma, Sazal and Mamun were admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.
Meantime, police rescued the ansar and security personnel detained in their barracks and quarters at 1:30pm after six hours.
Among the injured ansars and guards, Liton, Jalal, Shahjahan, Anwarul, Chanchal Kumar, Dulal Miah and Anju Miah were sent to local hospitals.
Around 100 workers were admitted to four different clinics in the town.
Opex Group Director Mohammad Farid claimed valuables worth Tk 1 crore were damaged during the clashes and attacks.
MUGGING, LOOT, SUFFERINGS
The workers barricaded the two highways, which link around 100 routes, disrupting communications among 18 districts.
On the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, the longest ever 15-kilometre-long traffic congestion stretching from Jatrabari in Demra to Meghna Ghat in Sonargaon was created due to the blockade.
About eight-kilometre-long traffic jam from the Kanchpur Bridge towards Narsingdi victimised the passengers on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway.
Thousands of vehicles remained standstill on the highways for long six hours. Around one million people were trapped during these hours and thousands were seen waling towards destination or back home.
“I walked to Kanchpur from Shanir Akhra to cross the six-kilometre jam-packed road,” said Saiful Islam, employee of Kanchpur New Dhaka Jute Mills.
Women and children suffered most while walking under the sun. The walking children faced severe drinking water crisis.
Snatchers cashed in on the situation by stealing valuables from passengers of the stranded vehicles.
A mob held two muggers -- Al Amin, 25, and Imran, 22, -- for snatching valuables from a passenger around 11:00am. Around 12:00noon, goons looted all the valuables of a taxicommuter, who returned from abroad, in Shanir Akhra.
3 KILLED, A RUMOUR?
The district administration, police and Sinha authorities declined allegation that three workers were killed during the clash with ansars and security men.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Alamgir Hossain told reporters no evidence was found in this regard.
The additional superintendent of police said the rumour spread in the morning, but no proof was found so far in its favour.
Director (Administration) of Opex Group Delwar Hossain said, “I have visited many places inside the mills with the workers but nobody was found dead. The workers were provoked to spread the rumour.” PROBE COMMITTEE
District administration has formed a one-member committee comprising Additional District Magistrate Saber Hossain to probe the matter.
OPEX GROUP REGRETS
The Opex Group deeply regretted the incident, reports UNB.
In a statement, Chairman of Opex and Sinha Textile Group Anisur Rahman Sinha said the undesirable situation was triggered by a rumour regarding detention of a worker by security personnel on charge of theft.
“A large group of unruly people comprising outsiders by taking advantage of the situation entered the mill premises and resorted to arson and caused huge damage to mill property. This led to temporary closure of production,” he said.
The statement added: “The management of the Group appreciates the sincere efforts of the law enforcement agencies, local administration and the people to bring the situation under control.
“We wholeheartedly extend the assurance that all necessary steps would be taken for treatment of the workers injured during the incident and also compensation, if necessary.”
The management would take “stern action against those responsible for the unfortunate incident,” the statement added.
PROTESTS AND CONDEMNS
Different employees unions, labour rights organizations and left-leaning parties claimed at least two workers were killed and more than 200 workers were injured in the incident.
Sinha Textiles Limited Employees Union, five left-leaning parties, Gonotantrik Majdur Party, Workers Party of Bangladesh, National Sramik Federation Bangladesh, Garments Sramik Oikya Forum and others protested and condemned the incident.