The government on Sunday formed a seven-member committee to investigate the reasons behind the nationwide shutdown of mobile and broadband internet connections during the job-quota-reform movement.
Additional Secretary (Telecom) of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications AKM Amirul Islam will lead the probe body as its convener.
Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology Advisor to the Interim Government Nahid Islam earlier held a meeting with officials of the Department, emphasising that actions would be taken against those responsible for the shutdown.
Following the meeting, formation of the committee was announced.
The committee includes a representative from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), according to Aminul Haque, BTRC vice chairman.
However, the complete list of the probe body is yet to be released.
The internet services have been snapped for around 10 days since July 18 amid unrest over students' job quota reform movement. Social media platforms were intermittently blocked during the period.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, former State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, provided various explanations for the internet shutdown.
Initially, he claimed that the data center located at Khawaja Tower in Mohakhali had been damaged, leading to the disruption. He also insisted that the shutdown had occurred spontaneously.
However, it was later found that the data center had not been damaged.
The five-day suspension of broadband internet had a significant negative impact on the country's economy.
Banks were forced to close, ATM services were halted, and all online transactions were suspended.
Individuals and organisations involved in e-commerce and outsourcing were particularly affected.
The e-commerce sector alone reported a loss of around Tk 30 billion due to the disruption.
Meanwhile, Two officials from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) were temporarily suspended on Sunday following protests from over a hundred commission employees.
The suspended officials are Amjad Hossain Nipu, the Personal Secretary (PS) to the BTRC Chairman and Deputy Director of the Administration Department, and Mahdi Ahmed, Deputy Director of the Engineering and Operations (E&O) Department.
The protests began on Sunday morning in front of the BTRC office in Agargaon, Dhaka, driven by allegations of corruption, partisanship, and irregularities involving the Chairman, Engineer Mohiuddin Ahmed, and his associates, including Nipu and Mahdi.
The protesters claim that these officials, who were allegedly involved in student politics, used their political connections to secure their positions and subsequently engaged in widespread corruption.
Despite the suspension of Nipu and Mahdi, no decision has been made regarding the resignation of Chairman Mohiuddin Ahmed, who was reportedly absent from the office during the protests due to illness.
Vice Chairman Aminul Haque stated that the commission is considering appropriate legal action in response to the employees' demands.
The suspension orders, signed by Director of the Administration Department Aftab Rashedul Wadud, cited violations of BTRC Employment Regulations 2022 and the Government Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018. The orders indicated that the dismissed officers would receive food allowances as per regulations, with the suspension taking immediate effect.
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