Court sends eight to jail in case over apparel worker unrest

A Dhaka court has denied police the permission to quiz eight people in custody in a case over garment factory worker unrest for pay hike.

The eight include Kabir Khan Monir, president of Garment Sramik Oikya Front, an organisation of apparel workers.

Police produced six of the accused, except Kabir and another suspect, in court on Monday and sought to remand the eight in custody for three days.

They are accused of causing a damage of Tk 10 million by creating disorder, vandalism and looting at the JK Group factory in Savar on Jan 6 and Jan 12 in the case started by an assistant manager of the company at the Savar Model Station.

In the remand petition, police said it was necessary to grill the suspects in custody to crack the case, recover the lootings, and identify the absconding suspects.

Metropolitan Magistrate Razib Hasan denied the police plea but added the law enforcers may quiz the eight at the jail gates within three days, Inspector Md Asaduzzaman of the police’s prosecution department told bdnews24.com.

As many as 25 people have been named in the case while 160 to 165 are unidentified suspects.

Mahbubur Rahman Ismail and Mohibur Rahman Mihir stood for the accused in the hearing.

The authorities on Sunday readjusted the recently gazetted wage structure for the garment workers, raising their gross monthly pay by up to Tk 786 following days of protests in Dhaka and nearby industrial hubs Savar, Ashulia, Narayanganj and Gazipur.