Police allege funding from abroad for Mirpur workers' unrest, naming Elias, Kachi and Jahangir

Police say they have found allegations of sabotage planning and financing centred on the garment workers' movement in Dhaka's Mirpur demanding a minimum wage of Tk 30,000. Investigation officials claim that former MP Elias Uddin Mollah, former Dhaka North Awami League general secretary SM Mannan Kachi and Jahangir Alam, a former personal assistant to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are supplying the money and directions from abroad.

Police claim that Elias Mollah's nephew Alif Mollah and Jahangir's associate Mahbubur Rahman Jewel were in charge of gathering people and coordinating in Dhaka on their behalf. The information came from questioning 26 leaders and activists of the Awami League and its associate bodies arrested from the workers' protest in the Mirpur area last Sunday and from examining their mobile phones, investigation officials said.

According to the investigators, Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 was to be paid for joining a procession, Tk 3,000 for setting fire to tyres, and Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 for setting fire to a vehicle or an establishment. In some places, officials also found offers of Tk 6,000 to Tk 10,000 for vandalism and arson. Sending photos or videos as proof of the work was a condition for receiving the money, and the Detective Branch (DB) claims several of those arrested did receive money through mobile banking.

DB investigation officials said preliminary questioning and analysis of mobile phone data showed that Awami League and associate-body activists were asked to join the protests disguised as workers, and that people were gathered for sabotage under the direction of thana- and ward-level leaders in hiding.

According to police information, SM Mannan Kachi is a former president of the garment owners' organisation BGMEA. Jahangir Alam had come into discussion after losing the post of the prime minister's personal assistant over corruption allegations. As they have been in hiding since August 5, 2025, their comments on the allegations could not be obtained.

The 11 people arrested by the DB are Mahbubur Rahman Jewel, 38, Md Kamal Gazi, 32, Md Oliullah Anik, 20, Alif Hossain Emon, 26, Md Nahid Hasan, 18, Arif Akanda, 29, Md Ramjan Sarkar, 18, Moazzem Shahriar alias Niaz, 26, Zubayer Islam Jisan, 22, Arif, 18, and Mahim Mollah, 18. A DB source said the arrestees include painters, rickshaw-pullers, rickshaw-garage workers and footpath vendors. Detectives found 20 to 25 groups under different names on various apps on their phones, through which participants in the movement sent photos and videos reporting their positions and activities.

Investigators claim Jewel and Kamal Gazi were arrested by the DB from the Mirpur-12 area last Sunday. The names of Shuvo, a former joint convener of the Dhaka North Chhatra League, and Kamal Gazi, a member of the Rupnagar Awami League in Mirpur, have also emerged. Detectives claim the arrestees' phones contain evidence of contact with the fugitive leaders abroad and of photos being sent. The DB has raided several places to arrest Alif Mollah but has not found him.

A DB officer of the Mirpur division, speaking on condition of anonymity, said at least 100 to 150 leaders and activists were gathered to carry out sabotage by joining the workers' movement, including grassroots activists from districts including Cox's Bazar, Noakhali and Gaibandha. The officer said these individuals took positions disguised as ordinary workers in Mirpur sections 2, 10, 11 and 12 and nearby areas, and later assembled at designated spots on instructions from online groups and blended in with the workers.

Police claim that during clashes with workers at Mirpur-10 last Sunday, Alif Mollah sent a message to an online group directing activists to gather on Love Road at Mirpur-2, from where they were sent under the Mirpur-11 metro station. Taking advantage of police being busy handling the clashes, a police vehicle parked under the metro station was vandalised and set on fire, and photos and videos of the incident were later sent to Alif, investigators claim.

Police have also arrested a young man, Rajib Chandra Das, on allegations of posting on Facebook admitting involvement in setting fire to the police vehicle during the Mirpur garment workers' movement. Uttara West police arrested him on Monday night from Sector 9 of Uttara and handed him over to Pallabi police. Police said Rajib worked as a manager at Paragon Group and was involved with the Chhatra League of Damudya upazila in Shariatpur.

Last Sunday, a police vehicle was vandalised and set on fire during the garment workers' protest at Mirpur-11. Police have filed four cases with three Mirpur police stations over the incidents, naming at least 10,000 people as accused. The cases allege attacks on police, vandalism of a traffic police box, cocktail explosions and setting fire to a government vehicle.

In these cases, thana police and the DB have arrested at least 50 Awami League and associate-body leaders and activists in two days. Of them, the 26 arrested last Sunday were produced before a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate's court on Monday and shown arrested in three cases; after the hearing, the court ordered them sent to jail. Among the 26, 13 are in an anti-terrorism case at Pallabi police station, seven in another case under the Explosives Act and various sections of the Penal Code, and six in an anti-terrorism case at Mirpur Model police station.

Meanwhile, workers attempted to blockade roads in Mirpur for a third day on Monday over the same demand. Police prevented them from taking to the streets, dispersing them with chases on two occasions when protesters tried to come onto the road.

Abu Naser Rikabdar, deputy commissioner of the DMP's Mirpur division, said the whole matter is under investigation, that processes for several more cases are under way after verification, and that drives to arrest those involved are continuing. DMP joint commissioner (crime and prevention, north) Md Mahidul Islam said miscreants are present alongside the workers, and that those breaking the law or trying to worsen the law-and-order situation are criminals in the eyes of the police and efforts are under way to bring them under the law.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has warned that saboteurs using workers as a shield will not be spared. He gave the warning on Monday after a meeting at the Secretariat with leaders of the two garment owners' organisations, the BGMEA and the BKMEA.