Jamaat-Shibir men spread rumours about Islami Bank to embarrass govt: DB chief
Jamaat-Shibir men are spreading rumours about the Islami Bank and S Alam Group through various media to embarrass the government, Harun-Or-Rashid, chief of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said on Monday.
"The Islami Bank was once occupied by the anti-independence forces including Mir Quasem Ali, who is a convicted war criminal. When the bank was freed from them, the Jamaat-Shibir men started spreading misinformation about the management of the bank," he said at a press conference organised at the DMP Media Centre in the capital's Minto Road.
"The main objective of this group is to destabilise the country's financial sector and to embarrass the government. They could not give any proof against their claim that thousands of crores of taka are being looted in the banking sector," he added.
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Earlier, he said that five people were arrested for spreading rumours about the Islami Bank and the S Alam Group.
They are Mohammad Noor Un Nabi, Afsar Uddin Roman, Abu Said Saju, Md Swadhin Mia and Md Abdus Salam. They were arrested by the cybercrime department (north) of the detective branch after conducting raids in different areas of the capital on Sunday.
Harun-Or-Rashid further said, "The arrested persons were spreading rumours sitting in the country. Their associates are living in different countries of the world and spreading rumours about the banking sector through social media."
"They are encouraging expatriates not to send remittances. We have got the names of the members of this group. Former directors and officials of the Islami Bank are also involved with them. We will take action against this group soon," he added.
"Various circulars have been issued from the Bangladesh Bank to keep people aware of these rumours. The country currently has adequate foreign exchange reserves," the DB chief said.
Islami Bank recently came to scrutiny after the disclosure of information that the Chattogram-based S Alam Group has lifted a stupendous sum of money in loans – more than Tk30,000 crore – from the bank that the business group controls.
The amount was way beyond the group's entitlement, prompting the Bangladesh Bank to appoint observers at the bank.
