Protesting garment workers besieged Kashimpur Police Station of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP). Police said miscreants had joined the workers. During the incident, there were chases and counter-chases and clashes with police. Several police personnel were injured.
The incident took place around 5:30 pm on Tuesday (3 November) in the Kashimpur Police Station area. Police later dispersed the protesters by firing tear gas shells and sound grenades.
Police and eyewitnesses said workers of a DBL Group factory in the Kashimpur area of Gazipur city were demonstrating. At one point, Kashimpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Molla Mohammad Khalid Hossain and other police personnel went to the scene to persuade the workers and bring the situation under control. The workers then chanted “fake, fake” slogans at the police and threw bricks and stones. The police retreated. Seeing this, a group of workers chased them.
Finding the situation critical, the police officers ran back to the station. The workers then gathered near the station and started throwing bricks and stones. At one stage, they besieged the police station. To control the situation, police fired tear gas shells and sound grenades to scatter them.
Tension spread in the station and surrounding areas after the incident. Multiple police teams later joined and restored order. The protesters eventually left the area.
When asked about the attempt to besiege the station and the clashes, OC Khalid Hossain said, “Miscreants joined the workers and gathered around the station. Although they were told to leave the area, they did not. Later, multiple police teams arrived, fired tear gas shells and sound grenades, and used batons to disperse them. Currently, there are no workers in the station area.”