Alongside non-payment of bank loans, Asian Group has been accused of occupying land of other people and taking part in the attacks on the protesting students during July uprising movement last year.
When the banking sector is reeling from defaulted loans, at least 16 group of companies, including Asian Group that took out hundred crore of taka as loans under special arrangements, did not repay the amount.
According to police, top officials of the Asian Group are accused in at least 17 cases involving attacks on protesting students in the capital’s Badda and Kuril during the July Uprising.
Many of the victims have expressed anger as police have yet not taken any action against the top officials of that group.
One of the victims named Monowara Begum at a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday, said that the Asian Group constructed a private road by occupying their land, ignoring the RAJUK directives.
“The people of the Asian Group demolished our structure evicted us from our own land. When we tried to stop them, they are threatened to kill us”, she said.
She alleged, "We have been threatened that if we go to our land, even the body of us will not be found. Now none of us can go to our ancestral land out of fear.”
Besides, according to a Bangladesh Bank report, Asian Group is one the groups that took Tk 982 crore loan under special measures during the Hasina rule. Although various measures have been taken against different defaulter companies, but Asian Group still remains untouched for unknown reason.
There are allegations that although the list of bad loans of the country's top business groups has been published, the name of Asian Group is not included.
Executive Director of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr. Fahmida Khatun told the media, "Most of the loans of these banks approved for political reasons have been misused. The entrepreneurs and directors were not familiar with the culture of returning loans.
