The securities regulator has sent 17 officials on forced retirement for their alleged involvement in a hostile incident, during which the recently departed chairman and commissioners were held hostage following the compulsory retirement of a colleague.
The decision was taken at a commission meeting on Tuesday at the office of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).
A total of 22 BSEC officials, including these 17, had remained suspended since April 29 last year after official proceedings were initiated against them over confining then-chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood and commissioners inside the BSEC office on March 5 of that year.
Speaking to the FE by phone, BSEC spokesperson Md. Abul Kalam confirmed the forced retirement of 17 officials and said the remaining five of the 22 suspended had been reappointed with a demotion to the lowest salary scale.
Further details were not available. However, two of those facing forced retirement were contacted by the FE. One of them said he had received a show-cause notice before the forced retirement and had replied.
After considering responses to the show-cause notices issued to those suspended, the commission served letters announcing forced retirement.
An additional director of the BSEC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the letters cited 22 complaints against the recipients, including acts of sabotage carried out when the former chairman and commissioners were held hostage.
However, the commission did not state in the letters whether the allegations had been proved.
One individual who received a letter said their service rules required the regulatory body to inform them of the charges proved against them before taking any action.
A source at the BSEC familiar with the matter said that before deciding on forced retirement, the commission sought opinions from district judges. Another source said the finance ministry had a role in the move and that the Financial Institutions Division (FID) had also conducted a probe into the hostage incident.
Another BSEC official forced into retirement said the same allegations had been brought against all 22 suspended officials.
“But five of us have been handed down very nominal punishments,” he said.
On March 5 last year, disgruntled BSEC officials staged a protest and confined former chairman Maqsood along with commissioners to a room at the BSEC office following the compulsory retirement of Saifur Rahman, a former executive director.
Earlier, Mr Rahman had been made OSD (officer on special duty). As he completed 25 years of service, he was given a notice of mandatory retirement citing violation of service rules.
At the time, the BSEC order said the decision had been taken in “public interest.”
During the protest against the order, demonstrators accused the commission of mistreating them. The army then brought the situation under control and escorted the hostages out of the BSEC premises.
A case was later filed against 16 with Sher-e-Bangla Police Station.
Punishment differed with little explanation
The officials sent on forced retirement are executive director Rezaul Karim; directors Abul Hasan and Mohammad Fakhrul Islam Majumder; additional directors Nazrul Islam and Mollah Md. Miraj Us Sunnah; joint director Rashedul Alam; deputy directors Md. Nannu Bhuiyan, Qazi Md. Al-Islam, Shahidul Islam, Bani Yamin Khan and Touhid Hassan; assistant directors Aminul Haque Khan, Abdul Baten and Sajjad Hossain; and personal officers Abu Yusuf, Kawsar Pasha Barshi and Sameer Ghosh.
Assistant directors Johnny Hossain, Rayhan Kabir, Tariqul Islam, Maqsud Mila and librarian Salim Reza Bappi have been reappointed, according to the letter, on humanitarian and social grounds and considering that they had served the commission for only four years.
However, another five officials who joined the commission around the same time have been forced into retirement.
Assistant director Md. Sajjad Hossain served the BSEC for four years and one month, while assistant director Md. Johnny Hossain served the regulatory body for four years and 10 months.
Sajjad has been sent on retirement, while Johnny has been reappointed.
