DHAKA: Thousands of garment workers near the Bangladeshi capital today stormed a factory and torched it on the third day of violent protests over pay cuts and outstanding salary payments.

About 20,000 workers, some armed with sticks and stones, were protesting on the streets of Ashulia, 30 km outside Dhaka, when some set fire to a factory, assistant police commissioner Nur Ahmed told AFP.

“Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters. Some of them have put a barricade on a main highway to the capital Dhaka,” he said.

“Firefighters have been able to enter the factory to try and bring the blaze under control.” Police were unsure

if there were any injuries

inside the 10-storey building, another police officer told AFP. Two workers were shot dead by armed security guards during violence on Saturday and Sunday, according to police.

Meanwhile, a survey by the government’s Factory Inspection Department released today found that 122 of 825 factories surveyed — or almost 15 per cent — did not pay their staff on time between January and May.

Another 53 did not pay overtime and eight factories paid less than the government’s minimum wage of 1662.50 taka (24 dollars) per month.

“The situation is particularly appalling in the sweater factories where we have seen frequent violent unrest over wage cuts and irregular payments,” a senior official of the department told AFP.