The Anti-Corruption Commission has started an investigation regarding the allegations brought against Islamic University Vice-Chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam for his alleged involvement in irregularities in recruiting teachers at the Finance and Banking Department of the university.
M Shahbub Alam, a job seeker and also a former student of the department, lodged a complaint with the ACC against the vice-chancellor for his alleged involvement in the irregularities.
A two-member team, Assistant Director Nilkamal Paul and Deputy Assistant Director Syed Maidul Islam, of Kushtia Anti-Corruption Commission went to the IU vice-chancellor’s residence and started investigating the allegations of bribery, corruption and illegal transactions against the VC on Tuesday evening.
Investigating officer and also the Assistant Director of the ACC’s Kushtia office, Nilkamal Paul, told UNB that they started investigating the allegations brought against the IU VC, on Wednesday.
They also inspected various issues including the leaked audio conversations of the vice-chancellor, mega projects and his financial irregularities.
He, however, denied saying anything more in this regard for the sake of investigation.
A selection board for the appointment of lecturers in the finance and banking department of the university was held on the campus in Kushtia on September 25, 2022.
The finance and banking department chairman Professor M Bokhtiar Hasan left the selection board as an altercation between Bokhtiar and the board members took place over selecting final candidates.
The board later selected two candidates as the lecturers of the department without the signature of the department’s chairman.
Shahbub Alam, a job seeker of the department, filed a complaint with the ACC head office on February 27 with various allegations including the leaked audio conversations regarding the selection board.
The VC appointed teachers at the department in exchange of bribes and illegal transactions, the complaint said.
Awami League-backed teachers’ alliance Shapla Forum’s general secretary Professor M Mahbubar Rahman said that no teachers could be appointed without the signature of the department’s chairman in the final tabulation sheet of the selection board.
The IU VC appointed the teachers at the finance and banking department illegally, he added.
Contacted, Shahbub Alam said, 'The IU VC has appointed the teachers at the department through illegal and unethical transactions. The audio clips containing conversations between the VC and a person regarding the recruitment board of the department that went viral on social media proved it,’ he said.
He demanded a fresh selection board.
The IU VC, however, could not be reached over the phone despite repeated attempts for his comment in this connection.
Earlier, a total of 13 audio clips containing conversations between the vice-chancellor and different people went viral on social media from February 16 to June 11.
On February 17, IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan filed a general diary with the Islamic University police station after an audio clip containing a conversation between the VC and a job seeker of the IU’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department had gone viral.
