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          The Bangladesh Bank (BB) issued a show-cause notice to the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Tuesday for its alleged involvement in suspicious transactions having links with terrorist outfits.
The central bank also asked the authorities concerned of the Shariah-based bank to explain within the next 10 days why disciplinary action would not be taken against the bank.
The BB will take the next course of action in line with the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act after receiving reply from the bank within the stipulated time, sources in the central bank said.
The central bank issued the notice to the bank on the basis of its probe report, submitted to the BB governor earlier for taking necessary action.
"We have served the show-cause notice upon the IBBL; and the probe report has been sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs Tuesday for taking legal action against the person or persons involved in such deals," a BB senior official told the FE.
He also said the central bank mentioned names and addresses of the suspects, who were allegedly involved in such financial deals in its probe report.
Earlier, the BB's Anti-Money Laundering Department (AMLD) assigned five probe teams to investigate into the alleged five militancy-linked accounts with three commercial banks -- IBBL, Rupali Bank and Janata Bank.
According to sources, the probe teams detected seven telegraphic transfers (TTs) from Islami Bank Gazipur Branch and one from its Savar Branch to its Lal Dighirparh Branch in Sylhet.
The eight transfers made in the last two months amounted about Tk 0.415 million.
In each transfer, the sender mentioned an account held with the Islami Bank branch and a fake account holder's name. But, in all the eight instances, the bank officials did not apply the standard process of verifying the sender's name and other information provided, the sources said.
Under the existing Anti-Money Laundering Act, the banks are required to inform Anti-Money Laundering Department of the central bank instantly if they detect any suspicious transaction.
Under the existing provisions, the central bank can slap penalty of Tk 10,000 to Tk 100,000 if the banks fail to maintain the rules and regulations relating to submission of the suspicious transactions reports (STRs).
The BB probe teams, however, did not find any transaction in many years in the other two accounts with Rupali and Janata banks.
The central bank took the move following the arrests of two top Islamic militant leaders, who were allegedly involved in August 17 simultaneous bomb blasts across the country.
Earlier, the BB initiated a drive for identifying the financial transactions of top three leaders of the banned Jamaatul Mujaheedin, Bangladesh (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB).
Three leaders are: JMJB Chief Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, the JMB Chief Shaekh Abdur Rahman and his brother Maulana Obidur Rahman.
Both the banned groups are fighting for the introduction of 'shariah law' in Bangladesh and are blamed for a wave of bombings, including suicide attacks that killed at least 30 people and wounded 150 persons since last August.