Eight garment factories in Kaliakair upazila of Gazipur declared holidays on Sunday following demonstrations by workers demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000.
Workers from five factories in the Mouchak area took to the Dhaka-Tangail highway around 8:30am and staged demonstrations to press for their demand, disrupting traffic.
On information, members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and police rushed to the scene and tried to persuade the workers to leave the highway.
As the protesters refused to move, law enforcers fired sound grenades to disperse them. Traffic resumed around 9:00am after the workers left the road.
Following the unrest, authorities declared holidays at eight factories in the Mouchak area and surrounding localities.
Superintendent of Police of Gazipur Industrial Police-2 Mohammad Amzad Hossain said production at other factories continued normally from 8:00am.
Industrial Police, local police, BGB, Ansar, intelligence personnel and executive magistrates have been deployed to prevent any further trouble, he added.