Situation Under Control in Ashulia, 70 Factories Temporarily Closed: Industrial Police
The overall situation in the garment industry area of Ashulia in Dhaka is normal and under control, the Industrial Police have said. Of the 1,863 factories under the force's jurisdiction, 70 are temporarily closed, while production is running at the remaining factories.
Industrial Police-1 Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohammad Mominul Islam Bhuiya gave the briefing while speaking to journalists in the Jamgara area of Ashulia at around 11am on Thursday (5 November).
Mominul Islam Bhuiya said that on Thursday, after holidays were declared at several factories in the Jamgara area, some miscreants were throwing bricks and stones. When several of them were detained, they attacked police and vandalised a police vehicle. Police fired sound grenades and tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.
On the current situation he said it is now completely normal and under control. A short while earlier, around 2,500 workers had marched peacefully from Jirabo to the Envoy factory, in protest at the killing of a worker in Gazipur.
Asked about arrests and security measures, he said there is as yet no figure for arrests in Thursday's incident and no one is currently in their custody. The BGB has been in contact, and five platoons of BGB are now deployed in the area.
On cases, Mominul Islam Bhuiya said thana police and Industrial Police are working together to handle the situation and legal action is being taken accordingly.
Addressing workers, he said workers are work-loving people who want to work, but miscreants and saboteurs from outside are instigating them and trying to obstruct their work through incitement on social media.
The Industrial Police superintendent said the government has already announced a minimum wage board, the process is ongoing, and the new wage has been declared to take effect from the start of January. Owners are committed to implementing the set minimum wage, so they are hopeful workers will return to work.
On instigators, he said efforts are under way to identify and arrest those inciting such activities on social media. Many have already been detained and important information has been obtained from interrogation, but their identities cannot be disclosed at this stage for the sake of the investigation.
He added that they do not know whether any political party is sheltering these outside instigators, but that the instigators are not workers; they are outsiders.
