He handed over his resignation letter to Education Minister Dr Osman Faruk on Thursday in Dhaka, campus sources said here yesterday.

Mahbub in his resignation letter alleged that the HSTU authorities were involved in corruption. He protested the alleged corruption at meetings of the Regent Board but those were ignored, he said in the letter.

Reports of the alleged corruption by the authorities were also published in some dailies.

The resignation letter also mentioned that academic atmosphere on the campus deteriorated over the years due to lack of transparency and accountability in the administration.

He alleged that there were corruption, abuse of power and appointment of teachers and other staff on political consideration. This has tarnished the image of the university.

He also pointed out in the letter that on several occasions he urged the education ministry to conduct an inquiry to probe the allegations, but nothing was done.

According to HSTU sources, a chaotic situation prevailed at the institution since 2001 when it was upgraded to a university from a technical institute. After this, its authorities became desperate to appoint teachers and staff on political grounds. They appointed 57 teachers and at least 400 staff.

Mahbubur Rahman protested the appointments at several annual Regent Board meetings but those were ignored, the sources said.

There are allegations of realisation of money by a section of senior officials in the appointments.

Several clashes also took place on the campus between students and teachers over political appointments, the sources said.

On October 5 last year, agitated students locked the administrative building and kept the Registrar confined along with some teachers in a room as the authorities did not pay any heed to the complaints against two "politically appointed teachers".

The students also damaged equipment at laboratories.

The violence had erupted as a lecturer, Faruque Hasan of Agriculture Extension Department allegedly rebuked some first year students in a class. The students complained to Registrar Prof Md. Abdul Mojid, but he ignored it.

Earlier, the Regent Board at its May 23 meeting last year formed a three-member committee headed by Lt. Gen. (Retd) Mahbubur Rahman MP to investigate the matter. The report was also submitted but no action was taken.

On the night of May 21, students clashed with some "illegally" appointed employees.

Next day, students kept the VC and the Registrar confined to their offices, ransacked some rooms and torched some university property.

When asked, the Registrar brushed aside the allegations and said, "All appointments were done fairly and as per rule".

The VC could not be contacted for his comments despite repeated attempts.