Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) has dismissed five teachers and two employees following investigations into allegations of recruitment irregularities, violations of university rules and submission of false documents.
The decision was taken at the university's 115th syndicate meeting, KUET Registrar Engineer Md Anichur Rahman Bhuiyan said on Thursday.
The dismissed teachers are Professor Dr Pintu Chandra Shil of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department, Professor Dr Subrata Talapatra of the Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) department, Assistant Professor Nibir Mondal of the Energy Science and Engineering (ESE) department, Professor Dr Masrura Mostafa and Assistant Professor Shahriar Roman of the Humanities and Business department.
The other two are Deputy Registrar Nimai Chandra Mistry and office assistant Satyajit Kumar Dutta.
All seven had been under temporary suspension for an extended period.
According to university sources, allegations against Pintu Chandra Shil emerged following the 2024 mass uprising, leading to his suspension. During the suspension period, he allegedly failed to attend the campus regularly. His name was also found on the websites of two private universities, although KUET had not authorised him to work there. These allegations were among the grounds for his dismissal.
Subrata Talapatra joined KUET as a lecturer on October 20, 2010. An investigation found that he was over 30 when he applied for the position, exceeding the age limit under the university's recruitment rules.
Masrura Mostafa was also reportedly over 30 when she applied for the post of lecturer. She was later promoted to assistant professor by counting her experience at a private university, which the authorities deemed inconsistent with KUET's regulations.
Shahriar Roman allegedly failed to meet the academic requirements for appointment as a lecturer, which stipulated first-class results in both honours and master's examinations. He had obtained second-class results in both degrees. The investigation also found that two research papers cited in his application for the post of assistant professor did not exist.
Nibir Mondal cited experience gained through project-based employment when joining KUET, which was not recognised under the university's recruitment rules, according to the findings. While under suspension, he travelled abroad with the authorities' permission but failed to return and rejoin his workplace within the stipulated period.
Mistry was accused of submitting false experience documents when applying for the post of section officer at KUET, while Dutta allegedly secured his job by understating his age on his national identity card.
Mistry and Mondal reportedly filed writ petitions with the High Court challenging their suspensions.
However, the KUET registrar's office said the university had handled the cases in accordance with the law. It said the petitions concerned the legality of keeping employees suspended for more than six months, rather than the specific allegations against them.
Registrar Anichur Rahman Bhuiyan said the syndicate had decided to dismiss the seven employees after reviewing the allegations and seeking explanations from several of them.
"There were allegations against them, which led to their temporary suspension. After investigating the allegations, the university sought explanations from several of them," he said.