8,500 hired at Islami Bank without exams, irregularities also revealed

After taking control of Islami Bank in 2017, S Alam Group recruited 8,542 officers and employees without any job advertisement or examination. Candidates were asked to submit their resumes in special boxes kept at the Patiya residence and Asadganj business office of the group's chairman, Saiful Alam (S. Alam). In most cases, there were no competitive written or oral examinations. The findings were revealed in a Bangladesh Bank investigation report. The report states that out of 10,832 people recruited at Islami Bank between 2017 to 5 August 2024, nearly 75 per cent or 8,099 were residents of Chattogram district. Among them, 5,148 were from S Alam's home upazila Patiya. This means nearly 48 per cent of the bank's total recruitment during this period came from a single upazila.

The Bangladesh Bank investigation report stated that these recruitments driven by personal interests rather than necessity have increased the bank's salary expenses and created regional polarisation and concentrated risk. At the same time, qualified and meritorious candidates from other parts of the country were deprived of opportunities to work at the bank. Following the mass uprising on 5 August 2024 and the fall of Awami League government, S Alam Group lost control of the bank. During the interim government, independent directors were appointed for running the bank. Bangladesh Bank has since taken over. Most of the officials recruited through these irregularities were dismissed during the interim government's tenure. After BNP formed the government last February, the dismissed officials began protesting. They held a sit-in programme in front of Bangladesh Bank again on Tuesday demanding their jobs back. In light of this ongoing movement, Bangladesh Bank took the initiative to examine whether…