Traffic resumes on Dhaka-Tangail highway after worker blockade
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Traffic on the Dhaka-Tangail highway resumed one and a half hours after law enforcement officers fired tear gas shells and sound grenades to clear garment factory workers who had blocked the road in Kaliakair, Gazipur to demand a salary increase.
Gazipur Industrial Police Superintendent Mohammad Amjad Hossain confirmed the matter. Workers from several factories began demonstrating around 8:30 am on Saturday before moving to block the highway around 9:30 am.
The blockade halted vehicular movement on both sides of the Palli Bidyut area, creating a long tailback and eventually resumed around 11 am.
According to witnesses, workers from several industrial factories surrounding the Palli Bidyut area refused to join work in the morning and initially started demonstrating inside the factory premises.
They later marched onto the highway and set up the blockade. Upon receiving the news, personnel from the Industrial Police, District Police, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rushed to the scene.
At one point, law enforcement officers deployed tear gas shells and sound grenades to remove the workers from the highway.
Meanwhile, Gazipur District Police Superintendent Mohammad Josim Uddin said blockades occurred at several points on the Dhaka-Tangail highway since Saturday morning until law enforcement officers cleared the workers using sound grenades.
He confirmed that traffic on the highway between Chandra and Konabari has returned to normal.
