Police and intelligence agencies have obtained information suggesting that three individuals were behind the garment workers’ protests in Dhaka’s Pallabi and Mirpur areas.
According to their findings, the alleged financiers and organisers are former member of parliament Elias Uddin Mollah, former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Awami League’s Dhaka city unit leader SM Mannan Kochi, and Jahangir Alam, a former aide to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to police and intelligence sources, Elias Mollah’s nephew, Alif Mollah, and Jahangir’s associate, Mahbubur Rahman Jewel, were responsible for mobilising and coordinating participants in the workers’ protests in Pallabi and Mirpur.
Police and intelligence agencies suspect that a planned anti-government campaign is behind the escalating unrest in the garment sector, which forced at least 690 factories employing more than 17 lakh workers to suspend production on Monday.
Workers demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000 continued demonstrations, road blockades and clashes with police in Dhaka, Gazipur, Savar, Ashulia and Narayanganj. More than 30 police personnel and over 50 civilians, including a schoolboy, were injured in the violence. Police detained 92 people across Dhaka, Gazipur and Ashulia.
Law enforcement agencies alleged that four former MPs and a former mayor were involved in instigating the unrest. Intelligence agencies have also identified suspected organisers through CCTV footage. Police claimed that political activists had infiltrated groups of workers and were provoking violence, vandalism and arson.
According to the BGMEA, 670 member factories employing around 16.8 lakh workers suspended operations by 11:30am on Monday as workers refused to join work. The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) reported that another 20 factories in Narayanganj, employing more than 50,000 workers, also remained closed.
Authorities said factory operations were suspended due to ongoing protests, workers’ absence and fears of attacks on factory owners.
The latest unrest began on 12 October in the Azampur area of Uttara, where garment workers started demonstrations demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000. Protests and road blockades continued in the following days, and clashes with police were reported on October 17. Since then, the movement has spread to major industrial zones, including Gazipur, Ashulia, Savar, Mirpur and Narayanganj.
