Garment workers blocked the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur on Sunday, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk30,000, bringing traffic to a standstill. Five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed to help control the situation.
A police box in Konabari was also set on fire during the unrest.
Workers began gathering on the highway shortly after 8am and blocked the road by 9:30am, disrupting traffic along the busy route.
Chanting slogans demanding higher wages, workers occupied several points along the highway, including Safipur Bazar, Chandra Polli Bidyut, Mouchak and Telichala in Kaliakair upazila.
Hundreds of workers, some carrying sticks, took positions at different points, halting traffic and causing significant hardship for passengers.
Workers from several factories, including Karani Knit Composite and Knit Asia in the Ratanpur area of Kaliakair, joined the protest instead of continuing their work.
They had initially entered their factories in the morning to mark their attendance before leaving the premises to join the demonstration near Safipur Bazar.
Several nearby factories suspended operations amid the unrest.
Iftekhar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Konabari police station under Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said protesters had set fire to a police box located in the middle of the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Konabari area.
Shahidul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kaliakair police station, confirmed that traffic remained suspended as workers continued occupying the highway and demonstrating since Sunday morning.