Workers of two ready-made garment (RMG) factories staged demonstration in the port-city’s Nasirabad industrial area on Wednesday to protest harassment and extortion of money from them by criminals in the name of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). Hundreds of workers of Anwara Dress Makers Ltd and Frank Apparels Ltd, both owned by Frank Group, came down to the busy Bayezid Road in Nasirabad area at around 11.45 am. They chanted slogans against police and extortionists for more than half an hour. Traffic movements on both sides of the road remained halted for the demonstration, and subsequently passengers of different modes of transport suffered. Later, police arrived at the scene, and assured the workers that the extortionists will be rounded up, if they demand any money in future. Being assured of action against the criminals the workers cleared the road, and resumed work in the factories. The workers alleged that some extortionists beat up Abdur Razzak, floor in-charge of Anwara Dress Makers Ltd at 9.00 am on Wednesday, as he refused to give them money. Razzak said the criminals claimed money from him in the name of BCL, a ruling party affiliate. The workers also claimed that such incidents of extortion occurred in the past also. They informed the local police about the situation, but the law-enforcers did not take any action. Deputy executive director of Frank Group Altaf Hossain alleged that their management wrote letters to the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) commissioner on October 4 and November 7 to take steps against extortionists. But no visible improvement is seen so far in this regard.
