Jahurul issued the controversial circular regarding army deployment Sunday, keeping the advisers to the caretaker government in the dark.

President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed yesterday summoned him to the Bangabhaban for an explanation and the same day a step was initiated to send him to the education ministry.

According to sources, the president also wanted to know from the home secretary whether he had taken any action against the policemen responsible for Monday's mayhem at Karwan Bazar that left one killed and several others injured.

In reply, the home secretary informed Iajuddin that he was going to discipline Kohinoor Mia, the deputy police commissioner who had ordered for shooting high-pressure hot water on the demonstrators.

Jahurul asked the president not to liken him to Kohinoor and said he was ready to quit his job or comply with any transfer order, added the sources.

Later, the establishment secretary was asked to take the dossier on the embattled home secretary to the Bangabhaban, but soon the move stopped for a reason not yet known.

The 'unlawful and devious' decision [to deploy troops], which was eventually cancelled, had stunned the council of advisers, and some of them have requested the chief adviser (also in charge of the home ministry) to take disciplinary action against Jahurul Islam.

Signed by Jahurul, who has been widely known as a beneficiary of the immediate past alliance government, the circular directed the local administrations to prepare for deployment of the army across the country.

It said the army would be deployed to help the civil administration maintain law and order.

"We are waiting to see what steps are taken against him (home secretary)," Finance and Planning Adviser Akbar Ali Khan yesterday told journalists at his office.

Meanwhile, four advisers yesterday met President-cum-Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed at the Bangabhaban and discussed the issue of home secretary's circular on the army deployment.

The advisers urged the president to take immediate action against Jahurul.

After cancellation of the order, Akbar Ali Khan said the issuance of Sunday's circular was a clear violation of the service rules.

Adviser and former chief of the army Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury said proper procedure was not followed in taking the step and such a terrible mistake is not acceptable especially when it is dealing with a sensitive matter.

Earlier on Monday, at a meeting of advisers with President Iajuddin Ahmed in the chair, the home secretary failed to explain his actions. He tried to defend himself saying that he had issued the circular in consultation with the law secretary. But at the same meeting, the law secretary told the advisers that he did not have any discussion at all with the home secretary.

Sources in the civil service said Jahurul is one of the officials with obvious leanings towards the BNP and Jamaat. He has got to the top rung of his career ladder through quick promotions during the immediate past alliance rule, superseding others.

He was elevated to the post of secretary from deputy secretary in only four years while it usually takes a civil servant at least 10 years for such promotion.

Jahurul came in the spotlight when as the DC of Laxmipur he had had former minister ASM Abdur Rab arrested on the eve of the 2001 election.

The president appointed him as the home secretary on October 30, a day after assuming the office of the chief adviser. Before the promotion, he was serving as an additional secretary for the same ministry.

He also served as the secretary of the local government division, which was under BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan (the then LRGD and cooperatives minister).

The political parties except the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance had opposed his appointment as the home secretary.

During his stint as an additional secretary, Jahurul is said to have been instrumental in reversing a home ministry initiative to transfer former Rajshahi superintendent of police Masud Mia who had been accused of backing the Islamist militants in Rajshahi and the neighbouring districts.

Sources said the home secretary had been denied the US visa twice by the US Embassy in Dhaka for his alleged patronage of militant activities.