Court Orders Immediate Arrest of Sheikh Hasina, Rehana and Children in Bangladesh

Dhaka (The Uttam Hindu): A Bangladesh court on Sunday issued arrest warrants against 53 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, UK MP and Hasina's niece Tulip Rizwana Siddiq. This action has been taken in the case of illegally grabbing land by allegedly misusing political power.

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain passed the order after taking cognizance of three separate charge sheets filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), local newspaper Dhaka Tribune reported.

The report quoted ACC Assistant Director (Prosecution) Aminul Islam as saying that the judge has set April 27 as the next date for reviewing the compliance report on the arrest warrant. Another leading Bengali newspaper 'Prothom Alo', citing court sources, reported that ACC has recently filed chargesheets in the court against 53 people, including Hasina, in three separate cases related to corruption in plot allotment and all of them have been described as 'absconding'.

The court has also issued warrants against Sheikh Hasina's daughter Saima Wazed Putul and 16 others in another case related to Rajuk plot allotment. Earlier, on January 13 this year, a deputy director of ACC had filed a case against Sheikh Rehana for misusing her authority to acquire a plot of 10 kattha (local land measurement unit) in Purvanchal New Town project. Later, names of two other persons were also added in the case.

This legal action has come at a time when Sheikh Hasina's government fell last year (2024) after massive violent protests and political turmoil in Bangladesh. After this, Sheikh Hasina fled to India and is currently taking refuge here.

At present, Bangladesh has an interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus. This interim government has also demanded the extradition of Sheikh Hasina from India. Several different cases are being registered against Hasina in Bangladesh. After she lost power, incidents of targeting the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh also came to light. It is believed that the interim government of Bangladesh wants to stop Sheikh Hasina's return at any cost, so that she does not get an opportunity to become active in politics again