Transfer order of ANH Akhter Hossain was cancelled and he was reinstated as secretary of the Power Division. Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Ismail Zabiullah was made Secretary at the President's Office.

Rafiqul Islam was transferred to the Bangabhaban from the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED). Monday night. But the government yesterday transferred him to the post of secretary of the ERD.

Meanwhile, officer on special duty (OSD) Akram Hossain (secretary) was transferred to the Planning Commission as a member yesterday.

Sources said the BNP high command put pressure on President and Chief Adviser of the caretaker government Iajuddin Ahmed soon after the transfer order of Akhter Hossain to the IMED.

Akhter was returned to his previous post to thwart any move by the interim government to investigate corruption cases in the power sector during the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance rule, the sources added.

Additional Secretary Badiur Rahman, who was made acting power secretary Monday night, will move to the IMED, according to a establishment ministry notification yesterday.

Sources said Ismail Zabiullah, another high official politically loyal to the immediate past government, was posted at the Bangabhaban due to pressure from the BNP which wants to get him at the power centre of the country during the three-month tenure of the interim government.

Meanwhile, contractual appointments of Abdul Aziz Sarker, director general of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and Farrukh Ahmed Chowdhury, additional inspector general of police (administration) were cancelled yesterday.

The BNP also tried to influence the president and chief adviser to cancel the order against these two high ranking law enforcement officers but the president ignored it, sources said.

Akhtar Hossain, a secretary under the president's quota, was promoted as secretary in charge of the Power Division by the immediate past coalition government on contract in January, violating promotion rules and ignoring opposition from the Cabinet Division. He is also a senior leader of pro-BNP Association of Engineers Bangladesh.

The immediate past government allegedly used the President's quota twice on the same day to promote Akhter to the position of additional secretary and then secretary. Establishment ministry sources said an official outside the administration cadre can enjoy such promotion under the president's quota only once.

Akhter's political links to Hawa Bhaban, which virtually turned into an alternative centre of power during the immediate past government's rule, rewarded him with four promotions in the last three years.

Official sources said the caretaker administration would soon bring more changes in the civil administration. It would go for massive changes at the field level of the administration, including change of deputy commissioners (DCs) and thana nirbahi officers (TNOs), on completion of changes at the top level.

Sources at the Bangladesh Secretariat said the caretaker administration is yet to take any decision regarding the remaining contractual and political appointees in the administration.