Operations at the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) seed processing centre in Tebunia, Pabna, have ground to a halt amid allegations of abuse of power, misconduct with senior officials and workplace harassment against Assistant Director Mahmudul Hasan.
Officials and workers said tensions escalated in recent weeks, paralysing routine activities at the centre and raising concerns over timely processing and storage of quality seeds for the current season.
According to complaints, the assistant director has repeatedly disregarded senior officers, attempted to exercise unilateral control over operations and allegedly used workers to intimidate officials who questioned his decisions.
The situation worsened following an altercation involving a retired sub-assistant engineer, Jahangir Alam, who has been assisting the office due to an acute manpower shortage, officials said.
The centre has only three staff against 26 sanctioned posts, forcing officials to rely on Jahangir Alam for day-to-day office work, according to internal accounts.
On 5 January, workers went on strike over a demand, during which Jahangir Alam was allegedly obstructed from entering the office and verbally abused, sources said.
On 11 January, he found that the chair and table from his room had been removed and was later told by an office peon that this was done on the instruction of Assistant Director Mahmudul Hasan.
A heated argument followed when Jahangir Alam questioned the decision, with both sides exchanging verbal abuse before workers intervened to prevent a physical clash, witnesses said.
The following day, workers formed a human chain at the office gate demanding punishment of the retired engineer, accusing him of attacking the assistant director and labelling him a political affiliate, according to officials.
Both Mahmudul Hasan and Jahangir Alam submitted written complaints to BADC Tebunia Joint Director (Seed Processing) on 12 January, while the assistant director also filed a general diary with the local police station.
“I only asked where my chair and table were, and he responded with abusive language, saying I had no job here,” said retired sub-assistant engineer Jahangir Alam, adding that he had no dispute with workers and alleged the protest was orchestrated against him.
BADC Tebunia Joint Director Agriculturist Md Kazem Ali said the office had received complaints from both sides and an inquiry was under way.
He said the assistant director had been irregular at work for several months and was creating obstacles in farm operations by ignoring instructions from senior officials and rejecting seed batches despite quality clearance.
The joint director warned that the centre must complete aman seed collection, processing and storage by 22 January, but work stoppages triggered by collusion between the assistant director and workers risked missing the deadline.
BADC Pabna Marketing Division Deputy Director Md Sadeq Hossain alleged the assistant director displayed persistent insubordination, had multiple complaints pending against him and was already facing a departmental case.
Tebunia BADC farm Deputy Director S M Mahbub Or Rashid also alleged harassment for refusing to follow the assistant director’s instructions and said he had lodged written complaints with higher authorities.
Denying the allegations, Assistant Director Mahmudul Hasan said the claims were false and accused the retired engineer of attempting to attack him, adding that workers protested on their own initiative.
He said his absence from office for several months was with the knowledge of higher authorities and denied exerting undue influence or misbehaving with colleagues.
