Nearly 700 RMG factories shuttered, 100 arrested amid violent protests

Garment sector owners and managers suspended operations in at least 690 factories on Monday as work boycotts and violent protests by employees demanding higher wages continued for the third consecutive day.

The suspensions have drawn international monitoring of the situation, and risk cancellation of purchase orders by cash-rich foreign buyers.

Of particular concern is the involvement of helmet and mask-wearing men in violence during the protests, as the two groups are tied to the Awami League, a strong political party now under a ban.

As of Monday, police had arrested a hundred people in around ten lawsuits filed over the violence in Mirpur, Savar-Ashulia and Gazipur.

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At least 32 people were arrested in Gazipur in three separate cases, said Industrial Police Superintendent Md Amjad Hossain. Around 3,600 people have been accused in the three cases.

Another 60 people have been arrested in five cases in Mirpur, said Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Mirpur Division.

More than 11,000 unidentified people have been named as accused. Another case is being prepared at Kafrul Police Station, he added.

No case was filed in Savar-Ashulia region, but four people were detained based on “multiple reliable allegations.”

On Monday, 264 garment factories in Ashulia, 150 in Gazipur, and 190 others in Mirpur and other parts of the country suspended operations.

Road blockades were enforced in all the three regions, and also Narayanganj, which remained largely peaceful until Monday.