Professor Muhammad Yunus
A police complaint was filed on Tuesday alleging that some people occupied two entities, established by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, on Monday, introducing themselves as officials of Grameen Bank.
AKM Moin Uddin Chowdhury, managing director of Grameen Kalyan, filed the complaint with the Shah Ali police station, seeking necessary steps to stop the illegal occupation of the two offices.
‘We filed a complaint with the police station, but the police did not receive it as a case, and even they gave no filing number for the complaint,’ said Grameen Telecom legal adviser Abdullah Al Mamun.
Shah Ali police station officer-in-charge Moudut Howlader said that they sought CCTV footage of the office to scrutinise the matter.
According to the complaint, a sports utility vehicle and a car carrying 11 people came to the office at 4:26pm on Monday, and the people entered the reception hall of Telecom Bhaban, followed by about 24 more people at 4:32pm and 4:54pm on the day.
To enter the building, as per the rules, visitors have to visit the front desk of the reception.
Accordingly, the officer on duty requested that they provide the information. One of them identified himself as Colonel Rashid and said that they were from Grameen Bank and would go to the offices of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom.
They were asked to contact the said office from the front desk, but without giving any time, they went to the front of the lift lobby, took the stairs to Grameen Telecom, and then to Grameen Kalyan, and entered the offices, it said.
It also said that they did not show their identity cards and even forcibly entered the office without giving any office order issued by any authority to enter the building.
Later, they started looking at the ID cards of the officers and employees working in the building and prevented the officers and employees from leaving the office even after the scheduled office hours, which created panic.
Later, they held a separate meeting with the managing director of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom, and they informed the MDs of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom that the management of the institution had changed and a new chairman and directors had been appointed here.
After the meeting, the people left the office at 7:15 pm, keeping two representatives with them, and later, they locked the offices at around 9:10pm on Monday and left the telecom building.
‘Our workers are in a state of panic amid such a situation as we submitted the complaint seeking security for the sake of the safety of the employees of the institutions,’ Moin Uddin Chowdhury told New Age.
He also requested that the police stop the forcible entry of outsiders and restore the Grameen Kalyan office to its former status.
Officials said Professor Yunus, who is the chairman of the institutions, held a meeting on Monday with the managing directors and advisors of his institutions at Grameen Bhaban.
After the meeting, Yunus left the office around 4:30pm when a section of people entered the offices and surrounded officials, claiming that the institutions were owned by Grameen Bank.
On January 1, Professor Muhammad Yunus and three other Grameen Telecom officials were convicted of labour law violations and sentenced to simple imprisonment for six months in a case decried by different quarters as politically motivated.
New Age
