The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has sent 17 officials into compulsory retirement and penalised five others over their alleged involvement in a March 2025 protest that left the regulator’s then chairman and commissioners confined inside its office for more than four hours.
The decisions were taken at a BSEC commission meeting on 18 August, according to officials familiar with the matter. It is the largest single disciplinary action against BSEC officials since the regulator was established.
The action follows a government directive to take disciplinary measures against 23 officials over the incident. BSEC acted against 22, while no further action was taken against former Executive Director Mahbubul Alam, who had already left through voluntary retirement.
Those sent into compulsory retirement include Executive Director Rezaul Karim, Directors Abul Hasan and Mohammad Fakhrul Islam Majumder, Additional Directors Nazrul Islam and Molla Md Miraz Us Sunnah and Joint Director Rashedul Alam.
The list also includes five deputy directors, three assistant directors and three personal officers.
Five other officials — Assistant Directors Johnny Hossain, Raihan Kabir, Tariqul Islam and Maksud Mila and Librarian Selim Reza Bappi — received lighter penalties. Their salary increments were cancelled and they were placed at the lowest pay level of their respective grades.
The disciplinary action stems from a 5 March 2025 protest following the compulsory retirement of then Executive Director Saifur Rahman, who was also president of the BSEC officials’ welfare association.
During the protest, Chairman Khondoker Rashed Maqsood and other commissioners were confined inside the regulator’s office for more than four hours. Protesters demanded changes within the commission and later observed a work stoppage that disrupted normal operations for several days.
The chairman and commissioners were eventually rescued after army intervention.
A case was filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station on 6 March by Ashiqur Rahman, the security gunman assigned to Maqsood.
The complaint alleged that officials and employees entered a commission meeting room while a meeting chaired by Maqsood was underway and confined the chairman and commissioners. It also alleged that the office gate was locked and CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi, lifts and electricity connections were shut down.
Separately, the Financial Institutions Division of the Finance Ministry investigated the incident, recording statements from both accused officials and complainants before recommending disciplinary action against 23 officials.
The officials were informed of the decisions on Tuesday, with formal letters handed over on Wednesday.
The unusually severe punishment has raised questions over the legal basis and proportionality of the action.
People familiar with the matter questioned which provisions of the BSEC Employees Service Rules, 2021 were used, noting that some of the officials had not completed 25 years of service.
The 25-year threshold generally applies to retirement in the public interest, they said, while compulsory retirement imposed as a disciplinary penalty may be governed by separate provisions.
One official facing compulsory retirement denied committing any offence warranting the punishment and said he would challenge the decision legally.
Several people familiar with the protest also questioned why only some participants were punished when many BSEC officials and employees were present during the demonstration.
