Police fired sound grenades and garment workers threw bricks during clashes in Gazipur on Wednesday, as workers protested to demand higher wages.

Clashes began around 8:45 am at Bason police station on the Chandna intersection-Shibbari road in Gazipur city, after more than 100 garment workers blocked the road and began protesting, eyewitnesses said. Workers threw bricks at police, who fired at least 10 sound grenades to disperse them.

Belayet Hossain, additional police commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said workers threw bricks towards Bason police station and police fired sound grenades to try to bring the situation under control.

All garment factories in Gazipur were supposed to remain open from Wednesday, according to Gazipur Industrial Police Superintendent Amjad Hossain. Workers said several factories had declared a holiday because of the protests and the situation.

Twelve platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh, five platoons of Ansar and eight platoons of the Special Response Battalion (SRB) were deployed across the district to maintain order.

Twenty-five executive magistrates from the district administration are leading law enforcement personnel at key locations, assistant commissioner and executive magistrate Md Arif Hossain confirmed.