garment workers demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 and payment of outstanding wages clashed with police in Uttara, Dhaka, on Saturday, leaving at least 50 people, including 19 police personnel, injured.

The workers vandalised two Industrial Police vehicles and broke the hand of a police member during the clash, which took place at around 11:30am near Rajlakkhi on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway as they attempted to block the road for the fifth consecutive day.

Deputy commissioner of the Uttara division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Md Rezaul Karim told Jago News that workers from garment factories in the Uttarkhan and Dakshinkhan police station areas began gathering at several locations around 10:00am.

They gathered at Koshai Bari, Jamtala and Azampur railway crossings and the Holy Lab intersection at Jasimuddin, he said.

At around 11:00am, the workers assembled on Road 13 in Sector 4 of Uttara, near Rajlakkhi, and attempted to block the eastern side of the highway.

Police obstructed them, prompting the workers to throw bricks and stones at law enforcers, Rezaul Karim said.

Police then used batons, sound grenades and water cannons to disperse the protesters

During the clash, the workers vandalised two Industrial Police vehicles and assaulted an Industrial Police member, breaking his hand, the deputy commissioner said.

He added that police would file cases against those involved after reviewing CCTV footage.

Sun News/ rabbi