Staff Correspondent

Abdul Mannan, the former Managing Director (MD) of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, claimed that he was taken from his residence by officers of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and forced to sign his resignation on 5 January 2017.

Mannan said that the controversial Chittagong-based business conglomerate S Alam Group, owned by Mohammad Saiful Alam, took control of Islami Bank on that day.

He alleged that he was coerced into signing a resignation letter on an unused Islami Bank letterhead, which had never been utilised by the bank since its establishment in 1983 until 2024.

"My resignation was taken on such a letterhead," Mannan revealed during a webinar titled "Eradication of Takeover in the Banking Sector," organised by the Forum for Bangladesh Studies on Friday.

Mannan further disclosed that on that fateful day, senior officials of Bangladesh Bank worked late into the night to expedite the ownership transfer of the bank. He questioned, "How can such things happen in a country’s banking sector, which is the lifeblood of an economy?"

He also mentioned that in the subsequent years, Bangladesh Bank altered many decisions over the phone under pressure from S Alam Group. He stressed the necessity of taking action to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.

Having returned to the country after seven and a half years, Mannan shared, "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 after returning to Bangladesh."

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 attended the webinar, among others.