DHAKA, Sept 30: Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on thousands of textile workers demanding higher wages in the Bangladesh capital, injuring around 50 people.

Police fired the tear gas to try to disperse some 3,000 workers who went on the rampage over demands for better wages and a new work timetable for Ramazan.

The workers smashed cars and buses and vandalised shops in markets in Dhaka’s northern residential district of Uttara.

About 50 people, including some police officials, were injured in clashes between the two groups that lasted two hours. Hundreds of cars and buses were left stranded along a major national highway, he added.

Bangladesh has been rocked since May by a series of protests over low wages in the growing textile sector. Sixteen factories have been torched so far and hundreds ransacked by tens and thousands of rioting workers.

In early September, unions rejected a minimum wage of 1,604 taka (23 dollars) announced by the National Wage Commission and demanded at least 2,000 taka (29 dollars) per month. —AFP