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Clash, demo in Ashulia for 2nd day

Factories vandalised; 100 hurt; production halted in over 150 RMG factories

Staff Correspondent
Production in over 150 garment factories in Ashulia was suspended for the second day yesterday after a section of workers staged demonstrations, clashed with police and vandalised over 50 vehicles.
Violence erupted in Ashulia industrial belt near the capital the day before when workers of Ha-Meem Group took to the streets following a rumour that Salman, a storekeeper of the group's Artistic Design Ltd, died of torture by some officials and security guards.
Salman was handed over to police on Thursday for assaulting an official and sent to jail on Saturday, Ashulia police confirmed earlier.
Yesterday, Ha-Meem Group workers renewed the protest, demanding information on Salman. They blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway and clashed with police, leaving over 100 people injured.
The incident began at 9:00 in the morning and within four and a half hours, the industrial area turned into a battlefield, witnesses said. Police fired around 1,000 rubber bullets and more than 100 teargas canisters and baton-charged the crowd to control the situation.
In retaliation, the workers threw brickbats and stones. They also vandalised vehicles and set tyres and other roadside abandoned things afire, local people said.
Agitating garment workers smashed glasses of the seven-storey building of Scantex BD Limited, throwing brickbats, as police took shelter inside the building and fired rubber bullets and
teargas canisters from there, ABM Muklesuzzaman, assistant manager (admin) of the company, told The Daily Star.
Workers of other factories also joined the Ha-Meem Group workers and launched a protest against the death of a garment worker, Kamrun Nahar Golapi, during Saturday's clash. She was run over by a bus while she was trying to escape police action.
Owners of over 150 garment factories along the highway from Jamgorah to Narasinghapur suspended their operations, fearing vandalism, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Meer Fasiur Rahman.
He said the marauding workers started damaging vehicles from the beginning of their protest.
Law enforcers including members of Rapid Action Battalion, Industrial police,
Armed Police Battalion were already deployed in the area following Saturday's incident. An additional police force rushed to the spot yesterday. Nearly 1,000 law enforcers were there to control the situation.
"Two of our policemen sustained injuries when attacked by die workers," Fasiur, also an assistant director of industrial police, said.
At one stage, Ashulia police around 1:00pm produced Salman before the agitating workers, he said. The situation then came back to normal.
Meanwhile, police recovered the firearm, which was looted during Saturday's clash, from Bumail village of Ashulia. A case was filed yesterday with Ashulia Police Station in connection with the looting and attacks on police.