Saturday, April 17, 2021

Workers shot by police in Bangladesh

Five people were killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh after police opened fire on a crowd of workers protesting to demand unpaid wages and a pay rise at a Chinese-backed power plant. The workers attacked and set fire to several structures at the 1,320-megawatt power plant.

Police opened fire after about 2,000 of the protesters began hurling bricks and stones at officers at the construction site of the coal-fired plant in the south-eastern city of Chittagong, local police official Azizul Islam told Reuters.

The $2.4bn power plant is a major source of foreign investment into Bangladesh, and one of a series of projects that Beijing is pushing to cultivate closer ties with Dhaka. In 2016, China’s SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction signed a deal with S Alam group, a Bangladeshi conglomerate responsible for construction work at the site.

During that year, four protesters opposed to its construction were killed when police opened fire during clashes between villagers who were demonstrating both for and against the project.

Five people killed as police fire at protesting workers in Bangladesh | Bangladesh | The Guardian

No comments: