Staff Reporter :
Abdul Mannan, the former Managing Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, has alleged that he was coerced into signing his resignation letter under duress.
“The bank had never used this particular type of pad since its inception in 1983,” Mannan stated during a webinar titled “Eliminating Dominance in the Banking Sector,” organized by the Forum for Bangladesh Studies on Friday. The event was moderated by journalist Monir Haider.
Mannan recounted that on January 5, 2017, Chattogram-based controversial conglomerate S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank.
That same day, several officials from the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) reportedly took him from his residence to the DGFI office in Kachukhet, Dhaka, in the early hours.
The bank’s chairman and vice chairman were also allegedly taken from their homes in a similar manner.
Mannan claimed that he was held at gunpoint and forced to resign, noting that many top officials of Bangladesh Bank (BB) stayed late into the night to process his resignation.
He further revealed that in the years following this incident, Bangladesh Bank altered several decisions under pressure from S Alam Group, often through phone calls.
After S Alam Group, owned by Mohammad Saiful Alam, gained control of the board by removing Mannan and other top executives, the conglomerate and its affiliated companies reportedly secured loans amounting to Tk 74,900 crore from the bank.
This figure represents nearly half of Islami Bank’s total outstanding loans as of March this year, according to bank documents.
Having returned to Bangladesh after seven and a half years, Mannan reflected on his time abroad, stating, “While abroad, some journalists from Bangladesh tried to contact me, but I didn’t speak because I didn’t feel safe. I lived in constant fear. I never thought I’d be able to breathe freely again in Bangladesh.”
The webinar was also attended by Mamun Rashid, Chairman of Financial Excellence; Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Professor of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka; and Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, Adjunct Professor at Manarat International University.