Gazipur garment workers block Dhaka–Tangail Highway, set police box on fire - Prothom Alo English
Workers stage a protest on the Dhaka–Tangail Highway in the Safipur Bazar area of Kaliakair upazila, Gazipur, at 9:30 am on 1 November 2026.Masud RanaGarment workers have staged fresh protests in different areas of Gazipur, demanding that the minimum monthly wage be raised to Tk 30,000. Traffic on the Dhaka–Tangail Highway has been halted since Sunday morning due to the workers’ protests and blockades.
A police box in Konabari has been set on fire. Five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel have been deployed to keep the situation under control.
Workers took to the streets and began protesting this morning in Safipur Bazar, Chandra Palli Bidyut, Mouchak and Telichala areas of Kaliakair upazila in Gazipur. They chanted various slogans demanding higher wages.
Kaliakair Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahidul Islam said workers had been occupying the highway since this morning. As a result, traffic on the highway has come to a halt.
Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Md Nurul Karim Bhuiyan said five platoons of BGB personnel had been deployed in view of the current situation. The number of BGB personnel would be increased further if necessary, he added.
According to factory workers and police sources, garment workers have been protesting in different areas of Gazipur for nearly two weeks, demanding higher wages.
On Saturday, workers blocked the highway at Chandra Palli Bidyut and near Gate 3 of the Ansar Academy in Kaliakair until 8:30 pm. Police later dispersed them by charging batons and firing tear gas shells. Traffic on the highway returned to normal after about five hours.
This morning, workers from several factories, including Korani Knit Composite and Knit Asia in Ratanpur, Kaliakair, and nearby areas, did not report for work and took up positions on the highway in Safipur Bazar.
They began protesting after marking their attendance at the factories. Several nearby factories have declared holidays because of the workers’ movement.
Hundreds of workers later took up positions at various points along the highway, carrying sticks and poles. This brought traffic on the Dhaka–Tangail Highway to a complete standstill, leaving passengers travelling along the route in severe distress.
In the Konabari area of Gazipur city, protesting workers set fire to a police box located in the middle of the highway. They also took equipment and other belongings out of the police box and set those on fire, said Konabari Police Station OC Iftekhar Hossain.
