Gunfire, clash at Islami Bank

Clash and gunfire erupted in front of the Islami Bank head office in Motijheel yesterday while six individuals were injured by gunfire, a rare incident in banking history.

The incident occurred when officials appointed by the S Alam Group, which forcefully took over the Shariah-based bank in 2017, tried to enter the bank's headquarters.

Since 2017, the Chittagong-based conglomerate appointed about 14,000 officers and employees, mostly without following the proper recruitment process, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Most come from Patiya, an upazila of Chattogram from where Alam hails.

Officials appointed before 2017 started demonstrating in front of the bank's head office on August 6, a day after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. S Alam Group chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam is a close associate of Hasina.

The protesters are demanding the cancellation of appointments made after 2017 without following the proper recruitment process and the reinstatement of persons illegally terminated after 2017, said Anisur Rahman, an Islami Bank official.

The protesters decided not to allow any executive who joined after 2017 to enter the bank.

Most of the officials who joined the bank after 2017 did not come to office after the resignation of Hasina, including the bank chairman, managing director, additional managing director and deputy managing directors, according to people familiar with the matter.

But yesterday, a group of officials appointed after 2017 gathered around the head office at around 10.30am and tried to enter the office. Protesters blocked their way, which later transformed into clashes.

Six of the protesters were wounded by gunshots, they said.

Last week, Muhammad Qaisar Ali, additional managing director of Islami Bank, was forced to resign.

Once one of the most robust banks in Bangladesh, Islami Bank's financial health started deteriorating after S Alam Group took control.

There is an allegation that the conglomerate took out huge amounts of money from the bank in the name of loans.

The Islami Bank recently faced a huge liquidity crisis and its current account with the central bank faced a deficit for a long time.

On the other hand, the central bank is providing liquidity facility to the lender in a special arrangement.

Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director of the bank, could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, a group of employees of Social Islami Bank, where S Alam Group owns significant stakes, are demanding the dissolution of the existing board.

The officials, all of whom were appointed before S Alam Group took over Social Islami in 2017, placed their demands from a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka.

At the programme, they alleged that S Alam Group seized control of the bank in 2017 by taking hostage the then board of directors at gunpoint.

Since then, the group along with its associates and with the direct support of the Awami League government has embezzled thousands of crores from the bank's stakeholders and laundered the money abroad, the demonstrators said.

The employees urged the current interim government to dissolve the existing board and establish a new one composed of the bank's original owners and founding entrepreneurs, to "free the institution from the grip of money launderers".

Also yesterday, sacked IFIC officials gathered in front of the head office around 10:00am demanding their jobs back.

They also demanded exemplary punishment for the bank's chairman Salman F Rahman, a Sheikh Hasina loyalist, and former managing director Shah Alam Sarwar.

Meanwhile, the central bank yesterday instructed banks to refrain from undisciplined work at banks.

Such actions could cause depositors to lose their confidence, and these activities are punishable offences under the Bank Companies Act, the notice said.