Staff Reporter :
Hundreds of Beximco workers have blocked the Chandra-Nabinagar highway in Gazipur on Wednesday afternoon demanding the reopening of 16 closed factories in the Kashimpur area of Gazipur.
The protest escalated with the workers attacking, vandalising, and setting fire to several vehicles.
At the time, several journalists, including Jahangir Alam of Deepto TV, Amir Hossain Riel of Banglavision, and Abu Sayeed of Daily Bangladesh were injured in the violence.
As result, traffic on the highway was halted, and the blockade continued as of filing this report at 6:30pm.
Marking the issue, Industrial police, metropolitan police, and army personnel were deployed to the scene to disperse the crowd. However, the workers denied to clear the highway.
According to police, the protesters set fire to the factory of Grameen Fabrics in Kashimpur around 5:30pm. A team of firefighters rushed to the spot at 6:50pm and was trying to douse the fire.
Gazipur Industrial Police-2 Inspector Rajib Hossain said Beximco workers attacked and set fire to a bus, truck, pickup van, and several nearby shops.
Despite initial attempts to disperse the crowd, the official said police later resorted to tear gas and sound grenades to control the situation.
Approximately 42,000 workers were employed at 16 factories in the Beximco Industrial Park, owned by Salman F Rahman, a former adviser to the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
