A group of miscreants set fire to a multi-storey industrial unit of the Standard Group at Konabari in Gazipur on Thursday night, damaging the property that suspended the factory operation.\u00a0No casualties, however, were reported as 27,000 people working there had left eight-storey building before it had been set on fire.\u00a0Fire fighters took more than 15 hours to contain the flames, which burnt fabrics and machines, furniture and at least 23 vehicles, including 18 covered vans laden with finished products.
\nThe authorities declared the building risky after the fire and stopped people from entering the building.
\nWitnesses said that some workers had gone on demonstrations about their wage increase on Thursday morning and they again gathered at night after the factory had stopped its operation about 10:00pm.
\nMushfikur Rahman, a manager of the factory, said that \u2018some workers\u2019 had gathered in front of the factory about 11:00pm, picked up a quarrel with the police and started pelting the factory with stones.
\nThe police forced people out of the factory area and fired rubber bullets. A man named Rashedul was injured.
\nAt one point, a group on the PA system of a nearby mosque announced that the worker had been killed in the clash.
\nWitnesses said that the \u2018workers,\u2019 instigated by the rumour that a worker had been killed in police firing, along with some local goons had set fire to the building.
\nThe fire fighters could not immediately reach the factory that was burning because of obstruction put up by the miscreants.
\nMustafizur Rahman, additional superintendent of police (Gazipur south), confirmed that what was announced on the PA system was a rumour and alleged that some miscreants had set the factory on fire in a planned manner.
\nThe police were preparing to file case in this connection.
\nInsiders termed the incident part of an international conspiracy to destroy the Bangladesh apparel sector.
\nThe Standard Group, the second largest company in the country\u2019s apparel sector, supplied products to GAP, ZARA, KOHL\u2019s, American Eagle outfitters, Tommy Hilfiger, Sears and Gymboree, among others, international clients.
\nThe apparel factory owners also blamed the government for its failure to stop such conspiracies.
\nThe Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters\u2019 Association president, Atiqul Islam, said that such acts of sabotage had puzzled the entrepreneurs.
\nMany owners expressed their disappointment and said that they would reconsider whether they would run their business in such a situation.
\nThe acting president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters\u2019 Association Mohammed Hatem alleged that a number of external agents in the guise of workers had penetrated the apparel sector and they are serving the interest of some foreign countries.
\nThe Gazipur deputy commissioner, Mohammad Nurul Islam, set up a seven-member committee, headed by additional district magistrate Mohammad Mohsin, to investigate the incident. The committee has been asked to submit its report in seven days.
\nNone of the workers on Friday morning were willing to talk against the management of the Standard Group and many expressed concern about their future.
\nThe Standard Group, owned by Engineer Mosharraf Hussain, started its apparel manufacturing operation in 1984 under the corporate operation of the Civil Engineers Limited.<\/p>\n

-With New Age<\/strong> input<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of miscreants set fire to a multi-storey industrial unit of the Standard Group at Konabari in Gazipur on Thursday night, damaging the property that suspended the factory operation.\u00a0No casualties, however, were reported as 27,000 people working there had left eight-storey building before it had been set on fire.\u00a0Fire fighters took more than 15 … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n