Some 45 garment factories in Ashulia and Gazipur, one of the country's major industrial belts, were forced to shut down in the middle of the day yesterday amidst workers' demonstrations, which have been sporadically erupting since last week.

The demonstrations were over demands for different benefits and allowances, such as increasing maternity leaves from three months to six months, congenial work environments and recruitment of men and women in equal proportions.

"There was no untoward incident," said BGMEA President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, adding that the factory owners were not obligated to meet some of the demands, such as for attendance bonus and lunch allowance, as those did not fall under the labour law.

Of the factories, 44 were in Ashulia and one in Gazipur, confirmed the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Six people were detained for questioning from Pukurpar area on suspicion of being "outsiders" and "creating anarchy", said Mohammad Sarwar Alam, superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police 1.

As per the BGMEA's previous decision, most factories reopened yesterday but workers of the 45 factories started staging demonstrations both inside and outside, saying their negotiations with the authorities had not been "fruitful".

Tensions flared after 11:00am and the authorities decided to shut down, said industrial police.

Laily Akhter, a worker of a garment factory in Ashulia, said they were demanding an increase of monthly attendance bonus from Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 and its payment every month instead of every two or three years or when jobs were terminated.

They were also seeking Tk 50 as food allowance and an attendance allowance of Tk 100 for night shifts, she said.

"But the factory authority declared a holiday in the afternoon," she said, apprehending that the factory might be kept closed for 10 days and that they might not be paid for that period.

"We do not want the factory to be closed. We urge the authorities to accept our demands and keep the factory running," said Laily.

Around 11:30am, a group of workers blocked the Jirabo-Bishmail road in front of several factories in Pukurpar area of Ashulia.

Later, members of Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh arrived to disperse them and normalise traffic flow.

During a visit, this correspondent found the six detainees "being interrogated" outside a factory.

However, operations at other factories were normal. Police quoted the workers as saying that they had joined their workplaces after factory owners accepted most of their demands.