Staff Reporter :
Islami Bank, IFIC face new spate of unrest, violence as their employees engaged in protest and infightings on Sunday.
A violent clash erupted in the morning in front of the head office of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) PLC in Dilkusha, resulting in six people being shot, with three currently fighting for their lives.
Among the injured are officials Mamun, Abdur Rahman, Baki Billah, and godown guard Shahfiullah Sardar, who are all undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Sources indicate that officials from the ‘Anti-Discrimination Banker Society’ were attempting to hold a rally in front of the IBBL head office when they were confronted by bank officials employed by the S Alam Group.
This confrontation escalated into a scuffle, during which shots were fired, leaving six individuals wounded.
Insiders allege that tensions at IBBL intensified when hired goons, reportedly employed by the S Alam Group, attacked and shot the protesters.
The bank has faced controversy and scrutiny, especially following the recent change in government, which has exacerbated unrest among its workforce.
Authorities have yet to comment on the incident, and security in the area has been heightened as investigations continue.
Despite repeated attempts, Officer-in-Charge Abul Kalam Azad of Motijheel Police Station could not be reached for comment.
In a related development, former officials of the private IFIC Bank staged a demonstration demanding the resignation of bank chairman Salman Fazlur Rahman, his son, and representatives of the BEXIMCO Group.
The protesting officials also called for the reinstatement of employees who were allegedly terminated unjustly during the tenure of former Managing Director Shah A Sarwar.
More than two hundred people under the banner of ‘All sacked officials of the IFIC Bank’ staged the demonstration at the bank headquarters in Purana Paltan in Dhaka on Sunday.
Salman F Rahman, who is the vice president of BEXIMCO Group, was the former private industry and investment affair adviser to Sheikh Hasina.
Protestors demand that those who were appointed ‘illegally’ should be removed from the bank and all those forced to resign since 2013 should be reinstated immediately.
The protesters are also calling for the resignations of Managing Director Syed Mansur Mustafa and bank advisor and former managing director Shah Alam Sarwar.
They also called for Sarwar to be brought to ‘justice’. The protesters say the officials and employees forced to resign through ‘mental pressure’ should be reinstated from the date of their dismissal.
Those who are past their retirement age should get their full dues, including promotions and increments.
They also pressed for a number of other demands such as promotions for long-serving officials, abolishing performance bonuses, cancelling rescheduling of loans and waivers for ‘wilful’ defaulters, the removal of the ‘culture of fear’ at the bank and an employee-friendly workplace.
International Finance Investment and Commerce Bank Limited launched in 1976 with the Bangladesh government and private entrepreneurs. In 1983, when the government began to leave banking to the private sector, IFIC Bank went private.
Currently, 32.75 percent of the bank’s assets are owned by the government, while the rest are held by directors, entrepreneurs and general investors.
After the political reshuffle in 2009, Beximco Group Vice Chairman Salman F Rahman took control of the bank and became its chairman in 2010. At the time he controlled 30 percent of the bank’s shares.
Salman’s son Shayan is on the bank’s board as a representative of New Dhaka Industries. In May this year, he announced he would buy Tk 38.53 million in shares in the bank.
Sheikh Hasina resigned her premiership and fled to India on Aug 5 in the face of a mass movement.
There has been speculation that Salman, her private industry and investment advisor, left the country on the same aircraft.