Three workers of Kojima Lyric Garments Ltd were shot and around 20 injured in a clash with law enforcers yesterday when the workers were demonstrating blocking Chandana intersection in Gazipur city, demanding 100 percent of the basic salary as Eid bonus and Tk 500 as attendance bonus, instead of Tk 200.

The workers gathered in front of the factory and blocked Dhaka-Joydebpur road around 1:00pm, witnesses said.

According to witnesses, police fired shotguns, charged them with batons and fired tear shells when the workers began hurling brick chips at the cops.

Three factory workers Rashida, 25, Sabina, 24 and Najma, 25, got shot and at least 20 were injured, they said.

The injured were sent to Gazipur Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital and other clinics. Enamul Kabir, emergency medical officer of the hospital, said seven workers were treated there. Four, including the three who got shot were referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he added.

According to workers, they have been demanding the bonus for over a month and the management assured them of giving a decision yesterday, which they did not.

Contacted, Apurba Lal Hawlader, a manager of the factory, said, no company pays the workers 100 percent of the basic as Eid bonus; they had decided to give 70 percent of the basic. But the workers started demonstrating and blocked the street, he added.

Khandaker Rezaul Hasan Reza, officer-in-charge of Joydebpur Police Station, said when police were trying to dissuade the workers, they began hurling brick chips at them; police then fired couple of rounds of blank shots and tear shells to control the situation.

When asked about the workers who got shot, the OC said they only fired some blank shots and how was it possible for the workers to get shot from those.