Zainal Howlader, a resident of Kalikapur village under Patuakhali's Bauphal upazila, died in 1969.

In 2014, 45 years after his death, an agricultural loan of Tk 50,000 was issued to his name with Bangladesh Krishi Bank. Recently, the bank's Keshabpur branch sent a notice to Zainal's family asking for repayment of that loan, leaving the family members shocked.

"I recently received a notice from Krishi Bank saying that my father had taken a loan of Tk 50,000 in 2014 from the bank. But my father died in 1969, how could he take the loan in 2014? I urge the government to conduct a fair investigation and take action over this matter," said Zainal's son Abul Bashar, 64, a retired policeman.

This is not a standalone incident. The bank's Keshabpur branch recently issued notices regarding repayment of loans taken in 2014 to 14 persons. Of them, four passed away even before independence.

According to the bank's notices, three sons of Ketab Uddin Howladar of the village -- Javed Ali, Hazrat Ali and Raham Ali -- took agricultural loans from that branch in 2014. Among them, two loans of Tk 25,000 and Tk 30,000 were in the name of Javed Ali, and one each of Tk 45,000 and Tk 50,000 in Hazrat Ali and Raham Ali's names respectively.

However, Javed Ali passed away in 1960, Hazrat Ali in 1963 and Raham Ali in 1966.

"The notices from the bank were in the name of my grandfather and his brothers. But all of them died during the Pakistan period. We are shocked!" said Bajlu Howladar, grandson of Javed Ali.

Abul Mridha, 75, of the village, said, "Javed, Hazrat and Raham Ali died long before independence. I was surprised to hear about loans issued to their names in 2014."

Anwar Hossain, chairman of Suryamoni union parishad, raised questions about how the deceased could have taken loans, and demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the fraudulence.

According to sources at the bank, a field officer checks the borrower and his documents before approving any loan as per rules. If everything goes well, he recommends the loan to the branch manager, who then verifies and approves the loan in presence of the borrower taking his signature or fingerprint.

Contacted, Md Taif Hossain, current manager of Keshabpur branch of the bank, said he joined the branch on February 20 this year and came to know of the matter after some of the victims' families informed them of this recently.

"Upon receiving the complaints, we found that the loans were approved in 2014. The then field officer, Md Shafiur Rahman, has been summoned in this regard. However, Noor Hossain, the then branch manager, is unavailable," he said.

Noor Hossain is currently staying abroad and could not be reached for comments.

Md Shafiur Rahman, who retired in 2019, claimed that he did not recommend giving loans to any person using the addresses of the deceased men.

"The matter is being looked into seriously. Necessary action will be taken after investigation," said Ashfakur Rahman, chief regional manager of Krishi Bank.