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DHAKA: Three labour leaders have been detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka District Police (North) over allegations of inciting ongoing protests in Savar and Ashulia, Dhaka, over various demands, including raising the minimum wage for garment workers to Tk30,000.
Sources concerned said the detentions took place on Tuesday.
The three are Md Halim, general secretary of the Ashulia thana committee of the National Garment Workers Federation; Md Shamim, acting central general secretary of the Bangladesh National Trade Union; and Md Monsur Ali, joint organising secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Textile Garment Workers Federation.
Halim was detained from the Bashundhara Sonia Market area in Ashulia, while the other two were picked up from the Zirabo area.
DB Officer-in-Charge (OC) Saidul Islam told the media that the three labour leaders were detained based on specific evidence of inciting the workers’ movement and assisting destructive activities.
He said they would be handed over to Ashulia Police Station on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Khairul Mamun, legal affairs secretary of the Bangladesh Garment and Sweater Workers Trade Union Centre, condemned the detention of the three labour leaders and demanded their release.
In this regard, Mamun said arrests, attacks and cases were not solutions and that such measures could further provoke workers instead of resolving the situation.
He said the authorities should seek to resolve the crisis through dialogue with workers and their leaders.
