The government yesterday warned that it may issue red alerts through Interpol to trace factory owners who fail to pay workers, according to a statement from the Labour and Employment ministry.

Stern action will be taken against those factory owners who have not paid wages despite earlier commitments, warned Labour and Employment Adviser Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain at a press conference at the secretariat.

The adviser said the government will issue red alerts through the Ministry of Home Affairs and involve Interpol in order to track down factory owners who are either absent or in hiding.

The ministry is currently working to resolve issues related to non-payment of workers at six garment factories, including Dird Group, Stylecraft, Youngone BD, Mahmud Group, TNZ Group, Generation Next, and Roar Fashion.

The central bank has also been instructed to investigate commercial banks that provided loans to companies without properly assessing their financial capacity, he said.

The banks in question have been asked to submit the financial statements of those companies that received loans without adequate scrutiny, as per the statement.