Professor Dr RM Hafizur Rahman Selim of Begum Rokeya University (BRU) in Rangpur burnt a huge amount of university papers to ash while standing in front of the scene for five hours in a single day.
He is the dean of the Faculty of Science and director of the finance and accounts section at the university.
A video of him burning the papers, amid the pandemic induced shutdown, went viral on social media on Friday, when university staff and students speculated if those were the proof of various corruptions.
Earlier, Professor Hafizur, who has been a mathematics teacher, was removed from the post of acting registrar.
University sources said he became the head of finance and accounts section of the university backed by it's vice-chancellor, despite not having the required qualification for the job.
During his period as the acting registrar, the university administration was accused of unabated irregularities in different purchases and recruitment at the university, sources say.
Prof Dr Faridul Islam, president of the university's teachers' association, said: "To burn papers of the university like this, one should take written permission from the authorities. I do not know if he had taken such permission.
"He simultaneously holds the posts of a faculty dean and the finance and accounts chief; it goes against the university's rule," Faridul said.
Prof Hafizur said: "Being a dean of the university I can preserve the papers of admission seekers. Every year 7,000 to 8,000 students seek admission here.
"The amount of papers exceeded the space of the store room. So the decision of burning those were taken after discussing the matter with other teachers of the faculty," added Hafizur.
“I have been working with integrity. Sometimes some groups talk out of jealousy,” Hafizur further said.
There were 22 sacks of papers which took five hours to burn; a few of the faculty teachers came to visit once in a while and Hafizur remained standing there until it was all ash, this correspondent learned from Prof Hafizur himself.
Dr Motiar Rahman is a professor of the university and the convener of the Adhikar Shurakshya Parishad (Rights Protection Council), a teachers organization in the university.
He said: "There are various complaints against the university. Last year a number of students got caught while giving proxy to other examinees. In the midst of all this, why the papers were burnt in such a hurry, only the dean can tell."
The phone of Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, the vice-chancellor of the university, was found switched off when this correspondent tried to contact him.
