Two cases have been lodged over a violent clash between police and workers of a power plant in Banshkhali in Chattogram that resulted in the death of five people on Saturday.
The case accused some 2000 unidentified persons on charge of attacking law enforcers while the power plant authorities have filed the other case accusing 22 identified people and 1,040 unnamed persons for setting vehicles on fire and vandalism during the incident.
Shafiul Kabir, officer-in-charge (OC) of Banshkhali Police Station said, “No one was arrested in this connection yet.”
On Sunday a few workers were seen in the construction site of ‘SS Power-1 Plant’ of S Alam Group in Gondhamara of Banshkhali, a coastal sub-district. Officers of several government agencies visited the site and tried to find a way out to resume construction work.
Business giant S Alam Group is setting up a 1,224-megawatt power plant with financial and technical support from China. At least 6,500 workers work at the power plant. Besides, more than 800 Chinese workers are also engaged in the construction works.
Attempts have been made to restore a normal situation at the construction site, said Mominul Haq DC of Chattogram, “Adequate security measures have been ensured there. More than 200 police were deployed in the areas.”
“The families of the slain workers have been compensated, each receiving TK 3 lakh while the families of each injured have been paid Tk 50,000. The legitimate demands of the workers have also been met,” he added.
Over the Saturday's incident, the authorities and workers are still making contradictory statements blaming each other. The workers say they have been subjected to various forms of harassment and have sought a new work schedule considering the time of Iftar and prayers during the month of Ramadan.
But the officials of the power plant said, the workers were committing various irregularities and were not working as per the contract.
Meanwhile, the district administration has formed a Four-member investigation committee headed by Additional District Magistrate Sumoni Akhter to probe the incident. The other members of the committee are Kabir Ahmed, Additional Superintendent of Police, Masud Rana, Labor Inspector, Department of Factories, Chattogram and Abhijit Kuri, Assistant Chief Engineer, Power Department, Chattogram. The committee was asked to submit the investigation report within the next seven working days.
Police, in the meantime, have formed a separate investigation committee headed by Additional DIG. This committee will investigate the cause and effect of the incident, the role of the workers, the role of the authorities and the role of the police. If there is any irresponsibility of the police in this case, legal action will be taken.
Almost all the workers have left the project area in panic after Saturday's incident. A few workers are now stationed in the area. Moreover, many workers from far and wide have been trapped in the area due to ongoing lockdown in the Corona virus epidemic.