The elder sister of the college student who was found dead in a Gulshan flat on April 26 has been terminated from her job at Padma Bank.

She alleged that she was terminated for refusing to withdraw a case filed against Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir over abetting her sister's death by suicide.

A Padma Bank official, however, said she was terminated because of her performance.

The victim's elder sister said on July 14 she received the termination letter signed by Padma Bank's HR head M Ahsan Ullah Khan on July 13.

This correspondent obtained a copy of the letter.

"My sister was murdered. It is clear as daylight. Since her killing, I have been receiving threats from different quarters to withdraw the case against Anvir," she told The Daily Star the day she got the termination letter.

"Even the HR head of Padma Bank called me over Whatsapp around a month back and asked me to compromise with Anvir and withdraw the case, or face termination," she alleged.

M Ahsan Ullah Khan, who is also a senior executive vice-president of the bank, refuted the allegations.

Contacted yesterday, he said, "She has been terminated as she failed to perform consistently."

The elder sister of the college student said she was not given any show-cause notice or reminder about her performance before termination.

"If my termination was based only on a performance evaluation, why was no one else in my team terminated for bad performance?" she asked.

Earlier, she claimed that her sister was seven weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

"The forensic doctor who conducted the autopsy and the investigation officer of the case confirmed it to me," she said while talking to this correspondent.

She alleged that Gulshan police is trying to conceal the vital evidence of her sister's murder.

Contacted, Abul Hasan, the IO of the case and also the officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station, refused to make any comment about the case.

Masud Salauddin, a lawyer of the complainant, said, "In the inquest report the victim's bloodstained perineum proved that she was pregnant. The result of the DNA sample will be vital evidence in the case."

On April 26, the victim's body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in the bedroom of a Gulshan flat.