The New Nation - Internet Edition

bdnews24.com, Savar

Police arrested 12 factory workers from Ashulia on Thursday for alleged involvement in three days of riots earlier in the week over work conditions, pay and the killing of co-workers by law enforcement agencies.

The workers were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace, vandalism and arson committed between Saturday and Monday, Ashulia police chief Monowar Hossain said.

Hossain said the detained garment workers were employed in various factories in the Ashulia industrial belt, but declined to give details.

"The arrest drive will go on," he said.

Garment worker Al Amin was shot dead Saturday after Ansar personnel opened fired on a demonstration calling for pay-hikes at Jamgarah, on the fringe of the capital.

On Sunday another factory worker was killed and dozens of protestors and policemen injured during further clashes in the same area.

On Monday morning hundreds of angry garment workers set fire to a 10-storey factory building belonging to the Hamim Group, protesting the death of their two co-workers.

The ground and first floors of the factory, which housed a sweater factory, were gutted by the fire. Three buses and a lorry belonging to the factory were also set ablaze.

The unrest spread when workers from the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone joined the demonstrators later in the morning.

The factory workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway at Narsinghpur and it was not until mid-afternoon that police and fire fighters contained the fire.

Garment workers' leader Montu Ghosh spoke at a rally in front of Fantasy Kingdom demanding justice for the killings later in the day.