Prof Dr Faisul Islam Farruqui, a UGC member, appointed by the BNP-Jamaat alliance government, submitted his resignation letter to Education Secretary M Mamtazul Islam yesterday.

Education Secretary M Momtazul Islam made phone calls on July 30 to UGC members Faisul Islam Farruqui, M Mahbub Ullah, Sultan Hossain and Tareque Shamsur Rahman, appointed

during BNP-Jamaat coalition regime, and asked them to resign.

Later, Farruqui, UGC member and former vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University (RU), who was allegedly involved in corruption regarding the controversial appointment of 544 RU employees, resigned willingly.

Farruqui said that he resigned as UGC member on personal ground.

However, the three other UGC members said that they would not resign until they are informed about the reason.

"I shall not resign without knowing my fault. I request the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the allegations against us. I think I have the right to know about my faults," said Prof Tareque Shamsur Rahman.

"Why did the caretaker government request me to resign without informing me my faults?" he questioned.

Another UGC member Prof Mahbub Ullah termed the verbal orders a conspiracy against them.

"I shall resign from both the posts of UGC and Chittagong University (CU) if corruption charges against me are proved," he said requesting the caretaker government to reconsider its decision.

UGC Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam, who joined the commission on May 7, said a UGC member is appointed for four years but the education ministry has the right to remove any member at any time as per the decision of the government.

"UGC members M Mahbub Ullah, Sultan Hossain and Tareque Shamsur Rahman will be removed very soon if they do not resign willingly," a high official of the education ministry said.

Another UGC member, Ehsanul Hoque, who was also appointed by the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, has not been asked to resign.