The activities of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission came to a halt yesterday due to officials' protest against the forced retirement of Saifur Rahman, an executive director.

The protesters confined Chairman Khondkar Rashid Maksud and three commissioners to the BSEC meeting room for around four hours yesterday.

The demonstrators demanded the resignation of the chairman and the commissioners and withdrawal of the order that sent Saifur into forced retirement.

They also threatened to go an indefinite work abstention from today if their demands were not met.

Among other demands, they sought a stop to the issuance of any show-cause notices on BSEC officials through "disputed investigations" and cancelations of previously issued show-cause notices.

The protesting officials also demanded that a lawyer be appointed by the BSEC for 127 officials whose recruitment was controversial.

A writ petition was filed last September against their recruitment amid allegations that due process was not followed.

The demonstrators also demanded an end to alleged mistreatment of officials and insisted on an apology.

Investors apparently remained indifferent as the benchmark index DSEX closed marginally higher yesterday.

This is the first time BSEC has seen such agitation by its officials since its inception in 1993.

In August last year, protests were held on a smaller scale against the appointment of M Masrur Reaz as the chairman of the regulatory body. Masrur then refrained from joining the office.

Prof Shibli Rubayat-Ul Islam, who had been the chairman during the Hasina regime, landed in jail for alleged corruption after Hasina's ouster.

During the protest yesterday, officials did not allow anyone, including journalists, to enter the commission building. They cut electricity supply for a couple of hours when they had confined the four top officials.

Army personnel arrived and entered the office by climbing over the gate around 2:15pm. They rescued BSEC Chairman Rashid and other commissioners and escorted them to Rashid's room around 2:30pm.

Some BSEC officials attempted to escape upon seeing the army personnel, who charged truncheons on the protesters.  At that time, BSEC officials were chanting slogans demanding Rashid's resignation.

Saifur had been made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD), seen as a punishment, in September 2024 due to alleged corruption.

Chairman Rashid said the commission ordered Saifur's forced retirement following rules and regulations, as significant violations had been allegedly found against him in several investigations.

He said the BSEC requested the protesters to submit a list of their demands for a review by the commission. "However, they insisted on immediate acceptance of their demands," he said.

In a written statement, the BSEC chairman said the regulator is investigating multiple instances of corruption in the stock market that took place over the last 15 years and has found that several BSEC officials were involved. Therefore, the BSEC is taking action against them.

Due to these measures against corruption, some officials confined the BSEC chairman and commissioners and engaged in misconduct, the statement added.

Farzana Lalarukh, a commissioner of the BSEC, said, "Despite repeated requests, the protesters did not restore electricity supply. They created a frightful situation by threatening us and throwing things."

Before all officials were dispersed, Md Mahbubul Alam, an executive director of the BSEC, said the commission did not provide a clear response to the officials' demands when those were raised before the commission.

"Now, they are demanding the resignation of the chairman and commissioners. If they do not resign, all BSEC officials will go on work abstention from tomorrow [Thursday]."