Garment worker tortured to death in Gazipur, one arrested

A 19-year-old garment worker was allegedly tortured to death at a factory in the Kashimpur Road area under Konabari Police Station in Gazipur. One person has been arrested in connection with the incident.

The victim, Hridoy, was an electrical mechanic working in the dyeing section of Greenland Garments. The arrested individual, identified as Hasan Mahmud Mithun, 28, is also an employee of the same factory.

Konabari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Salauddin confirmed the arrest, saying, "After reviewing CCTV footage, we confirmed that it was a murder. Based on the footage, one person was identified and arrested. Several police teams are conducting raids to trace others involved."

According to the CCTV footage, at around 2:39am on Saturday (28 June), some people, seemingly employees of the factory, tied Hridoy's hands and feet after accusing him of theft and took him to a room inside the factory.

There, he was reportedly tortured and beaten. Police believe he died the same night.

OC Salauddin added, "To conceal the incident, factory staff sent Hridoy's body to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in an ambulance, claiming he had been injured. The hospital recorded him as brought dead."

As news of the incident spread, several hundred garment workers staged protests in front of Greenland Garments, throwing bricks and blocking the road for hours.

Police and army personnel later dispersed the crowd and brought the situation under control.

According to locals, the factory authorities initially tried to cover up the death, delaying the disclosure. Later, the management posted a notice announcing the indefinite closure of the factory and left the premises.

Police collected CCTV footage and other evidence during a raid at the factory. Photos and videos of Hridoy's body showed visible injuries on his knees, waist, back, wrists, elbows, fingernails, neck, and face.

Following the incident, Hridoy's brother, Liton Mia, filed a case at Konabari Police Station on Saturday at around 11pm, accusing unknown individuals of premeditated murder and concealment of the body.

The case statement said Hridoy left home for work at 8pm on 27 June and had not returned by the following afternoon. After visiting the factory the following day, the family found Hridoy had been killed. They later identified the body at the hospital morgue.

Police prepared an inquest report in the presence of his relatives and sent the body for post-mortem examination.

The plaintiff alleged that Hridoy was intentionally killed inside the factory and that the body was sent to the hospital to divert attention from the murder.

He demanded the immediate arrest and trial of all those responsible.

TBS attempted to contact the factory authorities for a comment on the matter but was unsuccessful.