Four top officials of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) and Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) have been sent to jail in a case filed under Digital Security Act on charge of spreading rumours.
None of the four officials were named as accused in the case filed with Gulshan police station in the capital by Abdul Kuddus, deputy managing director of S Alam Group that owns the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited and a few other shariah-based banks.
Abdul Kuddus filed the case on charges of spreading rumours against S Alam Group.
Several sources of the bank told Prothom Alo that the four officials are victims of internal rifts in IBBL.
A powerful faction within the bank suspected the four officials centering the recent media reports and discussion on social media about the loan scam in the bank in November and December last year.
Arresting any senior official based on suspicion is not warranted. Proper evidence should be submitted before any such move
The four officials arrested on Thursday are – IBBL’s Dhaka north zone head and senior executive vice president Md. Sayeed Ullah, executive vice president and Cumilla zone head Shahidullah Majumder, security department official Capt (retd) Habibur Rahman and the bank’s former deputy managing director Md. Mosharraf Hossain, who joined SIBL as the chief remittance officer in June last year.
The two banks did not issue any official statement despite the arrests of four top officials three days ago. This has created concerns and unease, said many officials.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Anis A Khan, former chairman of Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), the apex body of chief executives of banks, said, “Arresting any senior official based on suspicion is not warranted. Proper evidence should be submitted before any such move.”
Three people were made accused in the case filed at Gulshan police station on 5 January on charges of spreading rumours by putting up posters against the owners and officials of S Alam Group and on Facebook.
I mentioned names of three people in the case statement. Police can tell about the remaining accused
The three are – Mazharul Islam from Feni, and Nur Nabi and Golam Sarwar from Lakshmipur. Among them, Nur Nabi is a trader and a well-known loan defaulter of several banks.
Police arrested five people including Nur Nabi on 9 January. The remaining are Afasr Uddin, Abu Sayeed, Swadhin Mia and Abdus Salam.
The law enforcement then arrested the four top officials of IBBL and SIBL on Thursday. Speaking to Prothom Alo about the arrests, plaintiff of the case Abdul Kuddus said on Saturday night that he mentioned names of three people in the case statement. Police can tell about the remaining accused, he added.
Police said the four officials were arrested based on the information from the people arrested earlier.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s additional commissioner (detective branch) Harun Or Rashid is supervising the case. He told Prothom Alo on Saturday that the arrested bank officials spread panic among people through rumour and concocted information about bank.
He also said they plead at the court for remand of four officials. Details will be found out by interrogating them at DB office if the court puts them on remand.