An unusual silence hung over the headquarters of the Islami Bank from early that morning. Senior officials had been instructed the previous day to report to work by 9:30 am in formal office attire, and warned that no photographs were to be taken.

One by one, the bank’s CCTV cameras were shut down. Security measures were strengthened several-fold. Inside the bank, rumours circulated that “he” was coming.

Shortly before midday, a convoy of black vehicles stopped outside Islami Bank’s head office in Motijheel. He stepped out of one of the vehicles, accompanied by his two sons, son-in-law and close aides. Since taking control of the bank in 2017, this was one of the rare occasions on which Saiful Alam Masud personally visited the institution.