Officials of Shrom Bhaban were freed after being confined for seven hours by protesting workers in the capital following the death of a garment worker, Ram Prasad Singh, 40, during a sit-in protest.
The workers suspended their movement after receiving assurances of a high-level government meeting scheduled for 11am on Monday.
At around 9:45pm, army officer Shahnoor, Ramna Zone Deputy Commissioner Masud, and worker leader Sadik briefed the protesting workers.
During the briefing, worker leader Sadik said: “We had fruitful discussions with the administration. Tomorrow(Monday), there will be a meeting between the government and worker leaders.”
Following this, with the consent of the protesting workers, the confined officials were allowed to leave.
Army officer Shahnoor assured the workers that their demands would be conveyed to the government, after which the situation gradually returned to normal. The protesters started dispersing.
Earlier, from 4pm on Sunday, March 23, workers from various factories had confined worker officials inside Shrom Bhaban.
The incident followed the death of Ram Prasad Singh, an assistant production manager at Gazipur’s Style Craft Limited and Young Ones BD Limited, who suffered a heart attack at 3:15pm.
Inspector Md Faruk, in charge of the police outpost at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), confirmed the death.
He said: “We were informed that the man collapsed due to a stroke in front of Shrom Bhaban. He was first taken to Islami Bank Hospital and later transferred to DMCH.”
Mostafa Bhuiyan, a sewing manager at the same garment factory, and worker leader Ramzan Ali, who brought Ram Prasad to the hospital, said that since March 18, dismissed workers of the garment factory had been protesting in front of Shrom Bhaban, demanding payment of outstanding wages.
They added that Ram Prasad Singh fell ill during the demonstration, and they rushed him to the hospital.
Ram Prasad Singh was the son of Kartik Kumar Singh from Fulgazi upazila in Feni district. He had been residing in the Gazipur crossroad area.
