A government-appointed probe committee has recommended imposing a travel ban on Prof M Abdus Sobhan, the former vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University.
The Education Ministry on May 6 formed the four-member probe body headed by University Grants Commission (UGC) Member Dr Muhammed Alamgir to investigate the allegations against Prof Sobhan regarding irregularities, corruption and appointment scam.
They submitted the full report to the ministry and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday.
The report says that the committee members found evidence of Prof Sobhan laundering billions of taka and amassing illegal wealth by recruiting hundreds in the university.
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Prof Sobhan is also a citizen of Australia. So, he may flee the country anytime to escape legal actions, according to a recommendation of the probe body.
A member of the prob committee said, on condition of anonymity, that from the very beginning of his taking office as the university VC, Prof Sobhan had been desperate and had acted as an accomplice to irregularities and misdeeds.
"The government has ordered legal action on the basis of the [probe committee’s] recommendations and there is no scope of avoiding punishment. We are working on it,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
However, the ministry last year remained indifferent even though another UGC probe committee found the allegations against him to be true.
The vice-chancellor appointed his sons and daughters, relatives, friends, ruling party activists, and his acquaintances in various capacities ranging from fourth-grade posts to teachers in various departments and institutions, and the Imam of the university mosque violating rules.
He had also changed the teacher recruitment policy in the 475th Syndicate meeting after becoming the vice-chancellor for the second time, according to the latest probe committee report.
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Later, Prof Subhan’s daughter Sanjana Sobhan and son-in-law ATM Shahed Parvez were appointed as teachers under the new recruitment policy.
This recruitment procedure totally tampered with the university law as well as article 29(1) of the Bangladesh Constitution, which mentions that all Bangladeshi citizens should get equal opportunity.
Despite being barred by the Education Ministry, Prof Sobhan appointed nine teachers, 19 section officers and 24 office assistants, and 85 third- and fourth-grade employees at different sections of the university on the last day of his term.
During his first term, he had appointed 330 teachers between 2009 and 2013. He also appointed 344 officers and employees during that period.
There are allegations that he took Tk10-12 lakh from every teacher and Tk7-8 lakh from every officer or employee in exchange for their recruitment.
