PSP Convener Sarder Motaharuddin said the blockade was withdrawn following allocation of Tk 40 crore by the government for payment of arrear salaries of jute mill workers and employees.

The workers and employees were on strike since Thursday protesting against police atrocities that had claimed the life of jute-mill worker Noor Mohammed Jashim, reports our staff correspondent in Khulna. The PSP's eight-point demand includes immediate payment of arrear wages.

Meanwhile, workers and employees of Sirajganj Quami Jute Mill brought out a procession in Sirajganj with sticks in their hands protesting the killing of Jashim in Khulna, our correspondent in Sirajganj reports.

They also set up barricades on railway lines in Sodanandapur from 10:00am to 11:00am and at Bazar Station in Sirajganj town from 11:30am to 12:30pm.

Rail communications with Khulna and the rest of the country were disrupted as agitating workers removed railway sleepers at different points from Khulna to Noapara, Jessore. Around 16 trains travel to and from Khulna every day and none of the trains ran yesterday. The agitating jute-mill workers set tyres on fire at different places on the 25-km stretch of highway along the Khulna-Jessore industrial belt.