BSEC sends 17 officials into compulsory retirement

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the capital market regulator, has sent 17 officials into compulsory retirement as a disciplinary measure.

The regulator has also downgraded five officials to the lowest level, a senior BSEC official confirmed.

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The BSEC took the decision on August 18 in response to an incident on March 5 last year, when officials confined the then BSEC Chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood and other commissioners for nearly five hours -- an incident that had never occurred in the commission's history.

That day, BSEC officials locked the commission's main gate, shut down CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi and elevators, and disconnected the power supply, creating a chaotic and intimidating situation.

The army later rescued the commissioners. The incident took place in protest against the compulsory retirement of Saifur Rahman, then executive director of the BSEC. The protesters also observed a work stoppage, creating a disorderly situation at the regulator for several days.

A gunman assigned to the security of the then BSEC chairman filed a case against 16 officials at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station in Dhaka on March 6 last year in connection with the incident.

Alongside the criminal case, the BSEC started an investigation and departmental proceedings under government rules. After completing various procedures, an investigation committee submitted its report against 23 officials.

The BSEC has taken action against 22 of them; the remaining official had already been dismissed over another allegation and therefore faced no further action.

The officials sent into compulsory retirement are Rezaul Karim, executive director; Abul Hasan and Mohammad Fakhrul Islam Majumder, directors; Nazrul Islam and Mollah Md Miraj Us Sunnah, additional directors; Rashedul Alam, joint director; Md Nannu Bhuiyan, Qazi Md Al-Islam, Shahidul Islam, Bani Yamin Khan and Touhid Hassan, deputy directors; Aminul Haque Khan, Abdul Baten and Sajjad Hossain, assistant directors; and Abu Yusuf, Kawsar Pasha Barshi and Sameer Ghosh, personal officers.

Johnny Hossain, Rayhan Kabir, Tariqul Islam and Maqsud Mila, assistant directors, and Salim Reza Bappi, librarian, have been reappointed, the letter said, on humanitarian and social grounds, considering that they had served the commission for only four years.