Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali, who has been condemned to death for war crimes, holds a large number of shares of Islami Bank (IBBL) though the bank claims it has no link with the ‘Islamist’ party or its leaders.
A senior official of the bank said on condition of anonymity that Ali held 119,534 IBBL shares worth around Tk 3.2 million.
A share of the company traded at Tk 26.5 on Dhaka Stock Exchange on Sunday against the face value of Tk 10.
The official said Ali, who was the Chittagong commander of Pakistan Army’s militia wing Al-Badr during 1971 Liberation War, in 1991 bought only 17 IBBL shares, which increased to the present number.
Ali is the founding vice-chairman of the bank.
He had been the vice-chairman as the representative of Bangladesh Islamic Centre, one of the sponsors of the bank. Later, he secured berth on IBBL board as a representative of Ibn-Sina Trust.
Ali, who is believed to have played the key role in establishment of the bank, is a founder member of Bangladesh Islamic Centre, Ibn Sina Trust and Islami Bank Foundation.
The International Crimes Tribunal-2, chaired by Justice Obaidul Hassan, sentenced him to hang until death on Sunday.
The court said in its verdict that eight of the 14 charges levelled against him had been proven while two were partially proven.
He was the founder chief of Jamaat’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and has been party’s central working committee member since 1985.
Source: bdnews24
