Banglalink employees confine chief technical officer to protest removal of engineer

Employees of mobile-phone operator Banglalink have confined an official demanding withdrawal of an order sacking a senior engineer.

They were yet to let Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Perihane Elhamy leave her office in the operator’s headquarters at Gulshan at 10:45pm on Thursday.
 
bdnews24.com Senior Correspondent Shamim Ahmed said from the scene around 200 employees laid siege to Elhamy’s office at around 6:30pm protesting against removal of
Shariful Islam Bhuiyan.
 
Ujjal Paul, the president of the proposed employees union of Banglalink, said Bhuiyan was a member of the committee of the union.

The employees submitted the proposed committee to the labour ministry on Feb 7 following rules, Paul said.

“We confined the CTO after the authorities suddenly handed the termination letter to Shariful Islam at 6pm. We will not let her go until Shariful Islam is reinstated.”

The protesters blocked Elhamy at the main gate for half an hour at 10:30pm when she wanted to leave. She later returned to her office.

Gulshan Police Station OC Sirajul Islam entered the Banglalink headquarters at around 10:45pm.

Some policemen were seen in front of the office.

“We have asked the Banglalink authorities for a peaceful settlement,” the Gulshan OC said.

No comment from Banglalink management was available immediately.

Elhamy joined Banglalink in March, 2013.

Banglalink, owned by Egypt's Global Telecom, is the second largest mobile-phone operator in Bangladesh by subscription.

The number of its subscribers was more than 32 million in July last year.

Gulshan police Inspector Salauddin Mia told bdnews24.com at around 12:30am on Friday the protesters were planning to continue the siege overnight.