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 the recruitment and dismissal processes were conducted properly.
A committee led by Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Md Arifuzzaman was formed. The committee’s report has revealed the irregularities in recruitment during the eight and a half years when Islami Bank was under S Alam’s control.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan told Prothom Alo on Tuesday that the committee was formed to understand the actual situation.
He said Bangladesh Bank will take steps based on the report if necessary. Since the bank itself conducted these recruitments and dismissals, there is limited scope for Bangladesh Bank to be directly involved.
According to Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC's human resources policy, the bank is obligated to publish recruitment advertisements in at least two national dailies and conduct examinations for any position.
Immediately after the S Alam Group took control of the bank in 2017, a provision was added to the policy allowing special relaxation during emergencies. This provision was later used to recruit staff without publishing any recruitment advertisements.
According to the report, recruitment without advertisements took place in 16 phases between 2017 and 2024. This irregularity was not limited to entry-level positions. Top positions in various departments, including Managing Director (MD), Additional Managing Director (AMD), Deputy Managing Director (DMD) and Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) were filled in the same manner.
The report also said there had been instances of direct recruitment without advertisements at the bank even before S Alam took control, between 2001 and 2017. In December 2016 for example, 10 people were directly recruited without any advertisements or examination based on a special recommendation from the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Office.
How 5,000 people were recruited from Patiya
An unusual system was used to collect CVs from candidates for recruitment as officers and employees at Islami Bank. The CVs were collected through special boxes placed at S Alam’s residence in Patiya, Chattogram and at his business office in Achadganj, Chattogram.
The boxes were labeled with names such as "Patiya General," "Patiya Cash," "Male General (Satkania-Lohagara)," "Female Cash," and "Peon-Diploma." After preparing a list of preferred candidates, the boxes were sent to the bank's head office. Appointment letters were issued directly from there. The report stated that there are no written or oral exam evaluation sheets for candidates selected through this process in the bank's Human Resources Department.
Officers without written exams
The report stated that irregularities occurred not only in lower positions but also in the recruitment of Probationary Officers at Islami Bank. The 24th Probationary Officer batch (2019) was one such example. No advertisement was issued for recruitment in this batch.
Resumes of 780 candidates collected from Chattogram were sent directly to the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at Dhaka University to conduct the examination.
The primary condition was to score at least 50 per cent in the written exam. However, the pass mark was lowered to just 20 per cent to facilitate candidates from the Chattogram region. Consequently, 540 job applicants were selected for the oral exam. A total of 304 candidates passed the oral examination.
Additionally, the resumes of 12 people who did not participate in the written exam were submitted directly to the oral examination board. All of them were from minority communities and residents of Chattogram. In total, out of 316 people, the first 190 were appointed to Islami Bank and the remaining 126 to First Security Islami Bank. All of them were from Chattogram. At that time, S Alam was the chairman of First Security Islami Bank.
Were the dismissals conducted properly
Following the regime change on 5 August 2024, a new board of directors was formed at Islami Bank. Soon after taking charge, the new board conducted a "Special Competency Evaluation Test" through the IBA of Dhaka University to re-verify the merit and qualifications of all officers recruited between 2017 to August 2024.
This test was held on 27 September 2025. Initially, 5,373 people were included in the assessment. Out of them, 402 participated in the test. Everyone who participated passed and remains in their jobs.
A total of 4,972 people abstained from taking the test. They were accused of observing work stoppages, intimidating officials, demonstrating against the bank, and spreading false information through human chains. However, without forming any specific charges against them, the bank paid three months' salary and dismissed them.
The report said another 261 people recruited during the same period were kept in employment without being included in the assessment process.
Many people also lost their jobs because of what the report described as discriminatory conduct by the bank’s human resources department. Some admitted their mistakes and were pardoned, while others lost their jobs despite submitting applications.
