According to witnesses, the clash erupted when the ansar opened fire on the workers of Sunman Group, who were staging demonstration to realise their demands that include payments of wages as per actual basic, festival bonus and cash instead of breakfast and wage payment on piece rate basis.

However, Deputy Secretary of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) M Moinuddin said the workers' demands include cash payment instead of breakfast and wage payment on piece rate basis.

He claimed that neither salaries nor bonuses were unpaid in three units of Sunman Group owned by Liberal Democratic Party leader maj (retd) MA Mannan.

Of the injured, five were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in a critical condition. They are Rabeya, Imam Hossain, Shohag, Alauddin and Maruf, a tempo helper.

Rabeya, Imam and Maruf were bullet hit in leg, waist and abdomen, hospital sources said.

The BGMEA formed a three-member committee headed by former first vice president MA Salam to probe the matter in three days.

Sources said the workers of Sun Knit, one of the three units, were in a negotiation with the management regarding their demands since last week.

"But the authority misbehaved with us today instead of fulfilling our demands which prompted us to stage protest," a Sun Knit worker said.

The workers of two other units joined their colleagues in the demonstration launched at around 11.00am and ransacked the factories, damaged vehicles and blockaded the road for two hours.

At first, a team from Bayezid Bostami Police Station rushed to the spot and tried to calm the situation, but failed. Then the ansar opened fire on the agitating workers injuring a few of them.

However, the situation cooled down when a Rapid Action Battalion team reached the place and assured the workers of taking initiatives to fulfill their demands, sources said.

Major (retd) GM Khan, general manager (administration) of Sunman Group, in a statement said a group of unruly workers of Sunman Sweaters Ltd aided by outsiders ransacked four factories of the group.

"Only casual knitting operators of two sweater factories made several illegitimate demands, which were not in conformity with the practices in the sweater factories," the statement added.