Thousands of commuters suffered immensely Thursday when the agitated workers of the Opex Textile Limited at Narayanganj and the Young Ming Garment International at the Shewrapara area in the city blocked the roads for hours demanding a hike of their wages. Sources said workers of the Opex Textile Limited, a sister concern of the Sinha Group, took to the street at around 6.0am and put up a barricade on Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway at the Kanchpur Point, demanding the wages increase. As a result, the passengers of the Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong Highway remained stranded under the scorching heat for hours during the office hours. The agitated workers damaged a number of vehicles including passenger buses and private cars, sources said. The workers brought out a procession and chanted slogans in favour of their demands. Chairman of the Group, Anisur Rahman Sinha, who rushed to the spot, sustained minor injury when he came under attack from the agitated workers, witnesses said. Sources said the police charged batons on the workers and dispersed them to bring the situation under control at 10am. In the other incident, at least 400 workers of the Young Ming Garment International Limited, brought out procession at the city's Shewrapa area at around 9.0am demanding the hike of their wages. Sources said the workers of the garment factory barricaded roads in Shewrapara area obstructing movement of vehicular traffic for hours. The duty officer of the Kafrul Police Station told the FE that the workers demonstrated for an increase in their wages. On receiving the information, the police personnel rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control at around 11am. No incident of injuries was reported from the place, the duty officer said.
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