Two garment workers were shot while several others injured in their clashes with joint forces during unpaid-wage protests in Dhaka's Kafrul-Mirpur area on Thursday, sources said.
The injured, identified as Al Amin Hossain, 17, and Jhuma Akhter, 15, both operators at a garment factory located in the area, were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), they added.
"The area turned into a battlefield on Thursday morning centering a sudden closure of a factory that spurred protests among workers of the unit with others joining from nearby units," says a spot account of the fresh outbreaks of unrest in the export industry.
In the course of the unrest, according to sources, agitating workers allegedly vandalized and set fire two vehicles of police and army. In response, police and army personnel resorted to action to disperse them.
They also claimed that gunshots were reportedly heard from the spot where two workers suffered bullet wounds and several others were also injured.
Two firefighting units drove in to douse the blaze, they said, adding that traffic in the area was significantly disrupted until 11.0 am on the day.
Khadiza Akter, general secretary of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, said the confrontation began in the morning when workers of Creative Designers Ltd took to the streets with workers from other factories in Mirpur-14 and Kachukhet area.
"Previously, two days ago, workers of Creative Design demonstrated demanding removal of a line chief of the factory after an alleged clash between a female garment worker and the line chief," she said.
She said factory authority announced closure of the factory yesterday (Wednesday).
Workers on Thursday morning took to the streets at around 8:30am to protest closure of their factory while workers from other units in Mirpur-14 and Kachukhet areas joined them, she noted.
According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, about half a dozen of factories namely Creative Designs Ltd, AJ Fashion Ltd, Centex Textile and Apparels Ltd, Centex Fashion Ltd, Dania Garments Ltd and Uniform Textiles Ltd remained closed in Mirpur-14 and Kachukhet areas on the day.
There were also eight factories in Gazipur and Mymensingh areas that could not operate or remained closed while three more units in Savar-Ashulia and Zirani industrial belts suspended operations on Thursday.
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