Depositors of EXIM Bank, one of the five banks merging into Sammilito Islami Bank, staged a sit-in in Chattogram city today, demanding the return of their money.

The protesters, under the banner of the Chattogram committee of the Sammilito Islami Bank Amanatkari Parishad, staged a demonstration in front of the EXIM Bank branch in the Enayet Bazar area.

The protesters said they had been unable to withdraw money from the bank for a long time.

With Eid-ul-Azha approaching, families need additional funds, but the bank is failing to provide customers with the money they need, they said.

The demonstrators placed three demands, including the immediate return of deposits in full, no "haircut" or deduction from deposits under any circumstances, and the restoration of normal banking transactions as quickly as possible.

In banking terms, a haircut implies that a portion of the bank's liabilities (the deposits) is written off or converted into equity to cover the bank's losses.

"We kept our hard-earned money in the bank, believing it was safe. Yet today we are standing on the streets demanding our own money," said Zahir Ahmed, one of the protesters.

"Holding back customers' deposits in the name of bank mergers or any other excuse is completely unacceptable."

The protest disrupted normal banking operations at the branch.