A three-member probe committee formed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) started investigating the allegations including corruption in teacher recruitment brought against the Islamic University vice-chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam on Monday.
The probe body led by the commission’s member Professor M Abu Taher included its public management division additional director M Fazlur Rahman and public management division’s deputy director Muhammad Yousuf Ali Khan.
Campus sources said that the probe body met IU vice-chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam, pro-vice-chancellor Professor M Mahbubur Rahman, treasurer Professor M Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya and teachers of different teacher associations.
The team, as part of its investigation, investigated the important files and documents as well as the audio clips that went viral on the social media Facebook from February 16 to June 13 last year.
UGC on January 11 formed the probe body against the Islamic University (IU) vice-chancellor Shaikh Abdus Salam to investigate the allegations of various corruptions brought against him, including teacher recruitment anomaly.
On February 17, 2023, IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan filed a general diary with Islamic University police station after an audio clip, containing conversation between the VC and a jobseeker from IU's mass communication and journalism department, had gone viral on February 16.
In an audio conversation, shared from a Facebook account named Farah Jebin on March 8, 2023, VC Abdus Salam was heard saying to a person over phone that he would make his relative first or second in the university’s economics department recruitment board.
The Islamic University Teachers’ Association and Awami League-backed teachers’ alliance Shapla Forum submitted a written petition seeking an explanation from the vice-chancellor regarding the leaked audio conversations on February 18. Later, the forum also sought the prime minister’s intervention regarding the issue.
UGC member M Abu Taher said that they were investigating the allegations of corruption against IU VC Shaikh Salam. The ministry concerned would take action against the VC if any corruption brought against him were proven.
