Clash outside Islami Bank HQ in Motijheel leaves 30 injured

A clash between two rival groups outside the Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC headquarters in Dhaka’s Motijheel left at least 30 people injured on Monday morning (September 14).

Members of the Islami Bank Conscious Customers’ Forum and a group of terminated employees from several Islamic banks gathered outside Islami Bank Tower around 8:30am for separate programmes.

Tensions escalated around 10am, when members of the customer forum were allegedly attacked, triggering a confrontation between the two groups.

Police intervened and dispersed them to prevent further violence.

The customer forum members later continued their demonstration beneath the bank building, while the terminated employees moved their programme to the Bangladesh Bank area.

Prof Nurunnabi Manik, president of the customer forum, said 30 of its members were injured, five of them seriously.

The forum was demanding an end to S Alam Group’s influence over Islami Bank, restoration of good governance and protection of depositors’ interests.

Meanwhile, the terminated employees were demanding reinstatement, alleging that they had been wrongfully dismissed during post-acquisition scrutiny of their certificates and records.

Both groups had announced their respective programmes a day earlier.