Garment workers demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000 and payment of unpaid dues clashed with police in Dhaka's Uttara area on Saturday, as their protest entered a fifth day.

The clash broke out around 11:30am near the Rajlokkhi area on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, disrupting traffic on one of the city's busiest routes. Bangla Tribune reported that at least 50 people were injured, including 20 police officers, and that an Industrial Police vehicle was damaged.

Uttara East police station officer-in-charge Morshed Alam said officers first tried to persuade the workers to leave the road, but the protesters attacked them with sticks and threw bricks and stones. He said police then used batons, tear gas, sound grenades and water cannons to disperse the crowd. The area was calm by the afternoon, he added, and no one was detained.

Workers said the rising prices of everyday essentials had made it impossible to manage on their current wages. Their demands have centred on a minimum basic salary of Tk 30,000, payment of arrears and other benefits.

The demonstrations in Uttara's Azampur and Rajlokkhi began on Monday and continued through the week, with workers from several factories blocking the highway. On Thursday, police used batons and sound grenades to clear the road on the fourth day of protests after some workers threw bricks at officers; traffic resumed after about two hours.

Bangladesh's ready-made garment industry employs millions of people, most of them women, and is the backbone of the country's exports. Wage and arrears protests have repeatedly flared at factories around Dhaka and Gazipur in recent months.