Tax authority targets former ministers and tycoons over alleged protest funding after five days of clashes, factory closures and a killing
Special Correspondent, Dhaka: Bangladesh’s tax authority has ordered banks to freeze the accounts of 204 people and companies, including former ministers and leading industrialists, accused of financing garment-worker protests that have shut hundreds of factories and now claimed a life.
The National Board of Revenue emailed the instruction to all banks on Thursday, an official told a journalist, citing intelligence information. The list reportedly includes the former commerce minister Tipu Munshi, Beximco’s Salman F Rahman, Envoy Group’s Salam Murshedy, Renaissance Group’s Shahriar Alam and Hamid Group’s Nasrul Hamid Bipu. The report offered no evidence for the funding claim and carried no response from those named. Only one source has reported the order so far.
The unrest began on Saturday. Workers demand a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 (about $241), more than double the current Tk 12,500. Labour leaders cite 8% inflation and rising household costs. The sector employs about four million people, mostly women, and earned $38.7bn from exports in 2025-26.
On Sunday the government formed a wage board, and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held an emergency meeting with ministers.: The meeting reportedly decided that the government would announce the board’s members next month, in December. The protests continued regardless. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in Ashulia and arrested dozens, while workers set a police vehicle ablaze. The manufacturers’ association said 529 factories suffered disruption, affecting nearly a million workers. Police later announced arrests over alleged sabotage.
On Monday, thousands blocked a major highway and clashed with police. At least 57 people faced arrest, and workers from at least 670 factories walked out.
That day in Gazipur’s Joydebpur, police and relatives say, protesters struck Toufiq Sheikh with sticks and bricks as he filmed clashes on his phone. He died at a Dhaka hospital on Tuesday. Accounts differ on his age and surname: Prothom Alo gives 21, while other reports give 35 and call him Toufiq Hossain. A Gazipur police commander said outsiders had pressured one factory to close.
By Tuesday’s fourth day, paramilitary forces had deployed to industrial suburbs, and police again used tear gas. More than 50 Gazipur factories announced closures lasting between one and three days. Babul Akhter, a workers’ representative on the wage board, urged strikers to stop.
On Wednesday, police fired tear gas and stun grenades again, hundreds of factories stayed shut, and dozens suffered injuries in Fatullah. More than 10,000 officers patrolled Mirpur, and workers blocked a highway in Gazipur. Labour minister Ariful Haque Choudhury promised swift justice for Toufiq’s family and said the wage board would meet within three days. The board’s chairman said workers would receive their first pay on the new scale in January.
Garment labour leaders then rallied at the National Press Club, demanding Tk 5m (Tk 50 lakh) in compensation for Toufiq’s family and noting that he earned alone for them.
Labour groups and employers still disagree. A labour activist said the government formed the board only after protests began. Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the garment manufacturers’ association, said ministers had already acted and asked workers to let the review proceed. Industry officials warn that prolonged closures could delay shipments and cost Bangladesh orders to Vietnam and India.
