A Bangladeshi court has once again issued an arrest warrant against deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her daughter Saima Wajed Putul, and 17 others in a corruption case. The court alleges that they illegally acquired a residential plot.
On Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib accepted the charge sheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). As the accused parties are yet to be caught, the court has issued an order for their arrest.
“Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammad Zakir Hossain Galib issued the warrant after going through the ACC’s charge sheet,” prosecutor Mir Ahammed Salam explained. He continued that the judge directed the ACC to produce the probe report on May 4 for the hearing of the next date over the rented land at Purbachal, a suburban area just outside Dhaka.”.
The ACC initially filed this case against Hasina and other co-accused, primarily government employees, on January 12, 2025. According to the charge sheet, Putul improperly prevailed over her mother, the then-prime minister, to acquire the plot directly from her rather than through the state-owned Rajdhani Unyan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), violating set laws and practices of plot allocations in the Purbachal New City Housing Project.
The commission states that this action was taken despite the fact that Putul and her family already own accommodations in the RAJUK area of jurisdiction in Dhaka. Currently, Putul is regional director of the South East Asian region of the World Health Organization (WHO) in New Delhi.
Earlier, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal had issued two arrest warrants against Hasina and several senior civil and military bureaucrats on criminal charges including crimes against humanity. The new warrant follows the ACC’s announcement of a new probe into the alleged embezzlement of Taka 4,000 crore over the “Mujib Centenary” celebrations.
The ACC charges that the amount has been withdrawn from the national exchequer. The investigation, which began in January, asks for information from various organizations regarding the costs incurred over the celebration of Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for a year long in 2020.
Hasina’s younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, is also involved, though she has never had an official role in the former government. The third target of the probe is Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, who was a former principal secretary and organized the centenary celebration after retirement.
ACC Chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen reemphasized that Hasina is no different from anyone else who is corrupt, and that the process to apprehend a fugitive is the same, regardless of identity.
Hasina faces a range of charges against her, from mass murder to enforced disappearances, and other serious crimes, and cases have been initiated against her at the International Crimes Tribunal. This tribunal was established to prosecute collaborators in the 1971 Liberation War and resulted in a series of executions after proper legal procedures.
Having her regime toppled on August 5 last year through a movement led by the students, 77-year-old Hasina has been living in India. Extradition, for which Bangladesh’s interim government made the request, has been eagerly anticipated by New Delhi.
