Narayanganj, July 31 (bdnews24.com) — Readymade garment workers in Narayanganj on Saturday blocked the Dhaka-Narayanganj Highway link road for one hour, demanding a minimum wage of Tk 5,000 and the release of Garments Trade Union Centre lawyer Mantu Ghosh.

Witnesses said that at least 10,000 garment workers from a number of factories, from Fatulla's Katherpul, Sastapur, Shibu Market and Kutubpur, came out into the road at 11am and created a blockade.

The workers withdrew their barricade after about an hour, only after Selim Osman, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers' and Exporters' Association (BKMEA), assured them that the authorities would consider their demands.

Meanwhile, additional police have been deployed at the BSCIC industrial zone, Kanchpur and Rupganj areas in Fatulla to avert any further unwarranted situation. Personnel from the elite force RAB have also been seen patrolling in the areas.

In an incident that appears linked to the workers's protests, Advocate Mantu Ghosh, Narayanganj unit president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), who is also an advisor of the CPB-backed Garments Trade Union Centre has been detained by the authorities.

Ghosh's family alleged that some armed people in civilian dress, introducing themselves as members of Dhaka's police detective branch, detained him from his residence at Palpara, at about 3 am on Friday.

Furthermore advocate Mahbubur Rahman Ismail, president of the Narayanganj unit of the Bangladesh Socialist Party (SPB) and also of the Bangladesh Textile Garment Workers' Federation, said some armed people raided his residence in Galachipa and also the party's city headquarters.

Fatulla Model Police chief Jibon Kanti Sarker said police are trying to pacify the agitated workers and bring the situation under control.

bdnews24.com/corr/adk/tk/db/1420h.