Islami Bank clients, officials demand dismissal of 'illegal recruits' from S Alam era
Protesters allege that many officials were hired unlawfully without following recruitment rules during S Alam’s control of the bank’s board.
Highlights:
- Clients, officials form human chain outside Islami Bank HQ, demanding dismissal of 'illegally hired' staff
- Protesters say mass irregular appointments took place under S Alam Group's control
- Most of 5,000 listed employees skipped evaluation test, only 414 took part
- Speakers say S Alam controlled bank board from 2017 to 2024
- BB dissolved Islami Bank board after 5 Aug political transition, ending S Alam's grip
Clients and officials of Islami Bank Bangladesh formed a human chain this morning (5 October) in front of the bank's head office in Dhaka's Motijheel, demanding the dismissal of those allegedly appointed illegally during the period when the bank was under the control of the S Alam Group.
At the demonstration, participants alleged that many officials had been hired unlawfully without following recruitment rules during S Alam's control of the bank's board.
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A senior Islami Bank official told The Business Standard, "In 2017, the bank's board came under the control of S Alam. At the time, numerous individuals were appointed without any formal recruitment process or transparency.
"Reforms in the banking sector began after the recent change in government, and a list of more than 5,000 officials was prepared for tests. However, most of them skipped the exam and have been spreading misinformation and unrest across the country."
Today's human chain was a peaceful protest against that, they added.
Another senior official said around 10,000 employees had been recruited over the past seven years without circulars or proper examinations, often with falsified documents and fake certificates.
Shahin Ahmed Khan, a client of the bank, said, "While under S Alam's control, people were recruited through fraud and favouritism. The eventual irregularities and large-scale fund siphoning weakened the bank's position."
He demanded that those who had been illegally recruited and refused to sit for the recent exam be dismissed for the bank's betterment.
Speakers at the event said that after S Alam took control of Islami Bank, a total of 7,224 people from Chattogram were allegedly appointed illegally to various positions from 2017 to August 2024. Of them, over 4,500 were from Chattogram's Patiya Upazila alone, according to them.
They claimed that by secretly recruiting candidates from a single district while depriving job seekers from 63 other districts, the discipline and integrity of the bank had been severely undermined.
According to sources familiar with the matter, on 27 September, 5,385 of these officials were asked to participate in the evaluation test. However, 4,971 of them refused to take part, defying the bank's directive. Only 414 officials sat for the assessment.
Notably, in 2017, Chattogram-based businessman Mohammed Saiful Alam, founding chairman and managing director of the S Alam Group, allegedly took control of the bank's board by force. After that, the bank's financial health deteriorated amid allegations of unrecorded and proxy loans.
At the time, allegations surfaced that Chattogram-based individuals were illegally recruited into Islami Bank.
After the political transition on 5 August last year, Bangladesh Bank began reforms in the banking sector and dissolved the Islami Bank board, ending S Alam's control.
