Atotal of 10,832 people were recruited by Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC while the bank was under the control of S Alam Group. Of them, 8,542 were recruited solely on the basis of CVs, without any recruitment advertisement or competitive examination. A large proportion of those recruited were from Chattogram, including 5,148 from Patiya upazila alone.
The findings were revealed in a special inspection report by Bangladesh Bank (BB).
In April this year, the central bank formed a seven-member committee to examine whether proper procedures had been followed in the bank’s recruitment from 2017 to August 2024 and in the subsequent dismissal process after August 5. The committee, headed by Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Arifuzzaman, recently submitted its report to Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman.
The report did not make any recommendations. Instead, it detailed the recruitment and subsequent dismissal processes.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, Islami Bank had a total of 21,551 employees as of August 31, 2024. Of them, 10,832 were recruited between 2017 and August 2024. Among those recruits, 8,542 were appointed without any recruitment advertisement or competitive examination.
Of these recruits, 8,099 were residents of Chattogram. The others included 398 from Cox’s Bazar, 114 from Cumilla, 99 from Mymensingh, 97 from Bogura and 96 from Dhaka. Another 83 were from Rajshahi, 78 from Jashore, 75 from Gaibandha and 66 from Rangpur.
The report said boxes were placed at the Patiya residence of S Alam Group Chairman Saiful Alam and at the group’s office in Asadganj, Chattogram, for submitting CVs. The boxes reportedly specified the positions, as well as separate identities based on area and gender.
The Bangladesh Bank inspection team took written statements from 10 randomly selected officers who were working in Dhaka and had been recruited during the period. They said that after submitting their CVs at the boxes at Saiful Alam’s house and the Asadganj office, they were interviewed and recruited there. Two of the 10 said they did not even face an oral interview.
Recruitment for 27 positions
According to the inspection report, recruitment was carried out for a total of 27 positions without advertisements or examinations. Among them, 2,789 people were recruited as Trainee Assistant Officers (Cash) and 2,160 as Trainee Assistant Officers. Another 1,544 were recruited as messengers-cum-guards, 915 under the RDS project and 501 as Trainee Junior Officers.
The central bank also found similar irregularities in appointments to senior positions. Two managing directors, eight deputy managing directors, two senior executive vice-presidents and one principal of the training institute were appointed without advertisements. Four of the five executive vice-presidents were also appointed without advertisements.
Under Bangladesh Bank regulations, a person must have at least 20 years of experience, including two years in the previous position, to become a DMD. However, the report said S Alam’s personal secretary, Akij Uddin, was appointed as a DMD with eight years of banking experience, while Miftah Uddin was appointed to the position with 17 years of banking experience, without meeting the requirement.
Questions over probationary officer recruitment
During S Alam’s tenure, four batches of probationary officers were recruited by Islami Bank. Of them, 190 people were recruited without an advertisement for the 24th batch in 2019. Twelve of them did not take any written examination.
According to the report, CVs of 840 candidates were sent to the bank’s head office, while 763 candidates took the written examination. Only 36 of them scored more than 50%. The bank later relaxed the qualifying threshold and called candidates who had scored as low as 20% for oral interviews. Eventually, 190 people were recruited by Islami Bank. All of them were residents of Chattogram.
Of the 190 recruits, 184 joined the bank. Only 31 are currently employed there. Twenty-one resigned, 131 lost their jobs and one died.
However, the report said the recruitment of 144 probationary officers in 2017 and 200 in 2024 followed proper procedures. Of the 200 probationary officers recruited in 2024, only 36 were from Chattogram.
4,685 dismissed after evaluation test
After finding irregularities in recruitment between 2017 and August 2024, the Islami Bank board decided to conduct an evaluation test to assess the qualifications of those employees.
A total of 5,373 employees were initially included in the evaluation test held on September 27, 2025. Of them, 402 took the test, and all of them retained their jobs. The remaining 4,971 did not sit for the examination. Later, another 287 employees were included in the evaluation process.
Following the board’s decision, the management decided to dismiss 4,685 employees. Of them, 4,440 were residents of Chattogram. The others included 155 from Cox’s Bazar, 10 from Dhaka and 80 from other districts.
Apart from these, 121 employees were dismissed over various allegations, while the contracts of 1,190 employees were not renewed after their terms expired. Another 136 were dismissed for other reasons. Five officers were sent into compulsory retirement.
Highest number of recruits in 2019
According to the Bangladesh Bank report, 367 people were recruited by Islami Bank in 2017, 1,118 in 2018, 2,467 in 2019, 2,110 in 2020, 865 in 2021 and 2,119 in 2022. The bank recruited 397 people in 2023 and 1,392 between January and August 2024.
The report said the bank’s own human resources policy requires recruitment advertisements to be published in at least two national dailies, followed by written and oral examinations.
Candidates are also required to secure at least 50% in both the written and oral examinations.
However, a large portion of the recruitment carried out between 2017 and August 2024 did not follow these procedures, according to the report.
Financial Mirror/AH
