Staff Reporter :At least 50 persons, including 12 policemen, received injuries in a fierce clash between readymade garment workers and the law enforcers in the port city Chittagong on Wednesday. The clash erupted in the city’s New Market and Station Road areas turning the entire area into a battle field. Police detained over 100 garment workers, mostly females, from the spot.Of the injured police personnel, three were identified as Assistant Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police [Kotowali Zone] Abdur Rahim, Officer-in-Charge of Kotowali Police Station Md Jasim Uddin and Inspector Nur Ahmed. The factory workers of Asian Apparels Limited took to streets yesterday morning protesting misconduct of a supervisor with their women colleagues. They were locked in clash with police when the law enforcers tried to disperse them at around 11:00am.According to witnesses, the agitated protesters hurled brickbats at police who retaliated with teargas shells and firing rubber bullets. Police also charged batons indiscriminately to disperse the protesters. Over 35 people were injured at that time in police action.”We went to the spot when the RMG workers started demonstrating blockading the busy road. At first we tried to solve the problem through negotiation, and assured the workers about taking tough action against the culprit after discussing the matter with owners. But they started throwing brickbats without paying heed to our request. Later, we dispersed the agitated workers charging baton and lobbing tear gas canisters,” OC Md Jasim Uddin said.The OC said, “We tried to disperse the workers peacefully when they attempted to vandalise public properties. They attacked us at that time. We asked them not to come out of their office through loudspeaker, but they did not pay attention to it.” Chittagong Bureau added: Asian Apparels had moved its main factory to the city’s Uttar Kattoli from Station Road a few months ago. Its headquarters remained at the old place.Witnesses said, a supervisor of Asian Apparels factory had verbally abused the women workers of the cutting section on Tuesday morning. Instantly, the workers staged demonstration protesting the incident later in the afternoon. The agitated workers also blocked the road in front of the company head office.At one stage, they moved away from the road getting owners’ assurance of listening to their allegations next day [Wednesday]. But getting no response from owners’ side, the workers resumed their protests around 10:30am on Wednesday putting barricade on the road.It is alleged that, the factory owners did not come even though they were supposed to sit with them. The workers also claimed that police assaulted them when the workers took position on the streets.
