One worker killed, 50 injured in police-workers clash in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Aug 9 (UNI) A jute worker was killed and 50 people, including police and journalists, were injured during a clash between police and workers in Bangladesh's southeastern city of Chittagong today.

The clash erupted when the workers put road blockade for demanding their monthly dues. The victim was identified as Bashar(45), who succumbed to his wounds at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

Some 2,500 workers and 300 officials and employees of the Amin jute mill joined the protest demanding payment of their dues. At one stage, the clash broke out when police tried to remove the road blockade. Police arrested 11 protestors from the spot.

The angry workers alleged the mill authorities did not pay their wages of 11 months.

The Manager (Admin) of the jute mill said they wanted to pay salary of two weeks this morning but the workers did not agree. The agitating workers said the authority had agreed to pay wages of five weeks but later they did not keep their promise.

The jute industry in Bangladesh has been facing acute crisis as the government recently decided to shut down four state-owned mills and terminate the services of 10,000 workers as those mills have been incurring a huge loss over the years.

UNI