Six ex-GP employees held before protest over unpaid dues

Police detained six former Grameenphone (GP) employees on Tuesday after preventing a planned peaceful demonstration outside the Grameenphone House in the city, escalating a long-running dispute over alleged unpaid dues that the former workers say have remained unresolved for 16 years.
The former employees, under the banner of the Grameenphone 5 Per Cent Delayed Arrears Realisation Unity Council, had announced June 30 (Tuesday) as the deadline for the country's largest mobile operator to settle their claims.
Organisers said they were due to launch a peaceful protest at 10:00am, but police intervened around 9:30am, dispersing protesters and detaining six members before the programme began.
In a statement issued after the incident, the Unity Council alleged that the arrests marked the third time its movement had been suppressed through what it described as arrests and false cases.
"We have been peacefully demanding payment of our lawful dues for the past 19 months, but the dues have remained unpaid for the last 16 years despite repeated appeals to the relevant authorities," the statement said.
The organisation demanded immediate release of those detained, withdrawal of the cases filed against them, an impartial investigation into its allegations and payment of the outstanding dues.
Following the police action, the organisation held an emergency press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity later in the day, where it renewed its call for the release of the detained members and urged Grameenphone to resolve the dispute through dialogue.
It also warned of nationwide peaceful protests if no progress is made.
The dispute centres on claims by former officials and employees that Grameenphone has failed to pay outstanding profit-related benefits, including what they describe as a five per cent delayed-payment penalty, despite years of legal and administrative efforts.
On Sunday, leaders of the movement warned that they would seek to establish what they called their "actual ownership" rights in the company if the dues were not settled by the June 30 deadline.
Grameenphone denied the allegations, saying most of the protesters had left the company long ago and had already received their lawful entitlements.
The company said the disputed issues are currently before the courts and should be resolved through judicial proceedings.
The company also accused some former employees of spreading misleading and defamatory information and threatening its management and staff, saying it had sought legal remedies to protect its employees and assets.
It said that law enforcement personnel had been deployed around Grameenphone House to ensure the safety of employees, customers and company property.
No immediate statement was available from the police explaining the grounds for the detentions.

bdsmile@gmail.com