A leather factory employee died as law enforcement personnel and workers clashed in Uttara Export Processing Zone in Nilphamari on Tuesday morning.
The deceased worker has been identified as Habib Islam, 32, son of Dulal Hossain from Sangalshi union's Kazirhat of Nilphamari Sadar. The deceased was a worker of a leqather factoru at the EPZ, said the other workers who brought him to hospital .
Tanzirul Islam Farhan, an emergency doctor at the 250-bed Nilphamari General Hospital, said, Habib was brought dead to the hospital, and that it was not possible to give details without the post-mortem report. Additionally, five other workers were currently receiving treatment for injuries suffered during the clashes, he said.
According to protesting workers, they have been demonstrating for the past two days in front of Evergreen factory at the EPZ demanding a halt to layoffs and other rights. On Monday night, the company unexpectedly issued a notice announcing its closure. In response, workers locked the main gate of the EPZ on Tuesday morning.
The workers said that around 9:00am, repeated clashes broke out between the workers and law enforcement which turned the entire area into a battleground. When news spread that a worker had died during the conflict, the clash intensified further, halting all vehicular traffic on the Nilphamari-Saidpur road.
A notice from Evergreen was doing the rounds in various social media accounts associated with the EPZ and confirmed by workers to be the one they saw pinned to the factory gate. According to the notice, Evergreen authorities announced the closure due to continuous protests disrupting production and causing significant losses, and for this reason the factory will remain closed indefinitely from 2 September under Section 12(1) of the Bangladesh EPZ Labor Act 2019. However, the notice said operations will be resumed only after the situation stabilises.
Nilphamari Superintendent of Police AFM Tariq Hossain Khan said, "I'm in the middle of a lot of trouble right now. I can't talk for even a second. There's an issue going on with the body."
Repeated attempts were made to contact Nilphamari Sadar Police Station's Officer-in-Charge MR Saeed for comment but he did not answer the phone.
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