Activists of the banned Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League mixed with protesting workers in Mirpur, Dhaka, and tried to commit arson and sabotage, according to the police’s Detective Branch (DB), which has detained 11 of their leaders and activists on that allegation.
Mohammad Rakib Khan, deputy commissioner of the DB’s Mirpur division, told the media on Sunday (1 November).
He said those detained in drives in and around Mirpur-10 are grassroots leaders from Barishal, Patuakhali, Cox’s Bazar, Gaibandha and other districts. According to him, Alif Molla, a nephew of Elias Molla, the absconding former MP for Mirpur, is acting as the coordinator of the sabotage and brought the activists to Dhaka from districts outside the capital. About a hundred activists were present, he said, and drives to identify and detain them are continuing.
Garment workers have been protesting for several days demanding a wage of Tk 30,000, the DB official said, but they became quite violent from Saturday. On Sunday too there were clashes with police and a police vehicle was set on fire, he said.
“Awami League and its affiliated organisations’ activists are trying to commit sabotage by using ordinary workers,” Rakib Khan said. Eleven people were detained from among the protesting workers, he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the clashes broke out during protests in which workers blocked roads in different parts of Mirpur, leaving the whole area tense. The protest began at around 9am with a blockade of the Mirpur-10 roundabout. Workers from garment factories around Mirpur-11, Mirpur-12, Proshika Mor and nearby areas then took to the roads.
All traffic came to a complete halt. When police fired water cannon, tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the workers and bring the situation under control, chases and clashes followed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report