A police constable was assaulted during a garment workers’ protest over wage increases in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Tuesday morning. Five people have been arrested in connection with the incident, police said.

The attack took place around 11:00am on Kalshi Road, in front of a supermarket belonging to a private company, approximately 200 metres from the Mirpur-11 Metro Rail Station.

According to eyewitnesses, several people surrounded and beat a police officer during clashes and a chase between protesters and police. Witnesses also claimed that the attackers took the officer’s firearm and threw it onto the road.

The injured constable was identified as Md. Simon. He was on his way from Pallabi Police Station to the area where the clashes were taking place.

A video of the incident shows several people repeatedly striking a police officer with sticks, while others attempt to stop the assault.

Pallabi Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Jalal Uddin said workers were dispersed from the Mirpur-11 area and moved towards Kalshi. Police personnel from Pallabi Police Station were heading towards Mirpur-11 when constable Simon became separated from his colleagues and was attacked.

He was rescued in an injured condition and taken to the Rajarbagh Police Hospital. Police arrested five people from the scene, the OC said.

He added that four other police personnel were injured after being struck by bricks and stones thrown by workers in the Mirpur-11 area.

Earlier, around 10:30am, clashes broke out between garment workers and police beneath the Mirpur-11 Metro Rail Station.

Since morning, several thousand workers from different garment factories in the Pallabi industrial area had gathered outside their workplaces. Many were seen carrying sticks.

When the workers moved onto the roads, police attempted to stop them. Tensions escalated as protesters threw bricks and stones at police.

The clashes also left many passengers stranded inside Mirpur-11 Metro Rail Station.