Bangladesh court issues new arrest warrant against Hasina, her daughter in graft case

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi court on Thursday issued a new arrest warrant against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her daughter Saima Wajed Putul and 17 others in a graft case, accusing them of procuring a residential plot through "fraudulent" means.

On Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib accepted the charge sheet submitted by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

As the accused were absconding, the court issued arrest warrants against them.

Bangladeshi"Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammad Zakir Hossain Galib issued the warrant accepting the ACC charge sheet in the case,” the statutory graft agency’s prosecutor Mir Ahammed Salam told reporters.

He said the judge asked ACC to submit its investigation report on May 4 for hearing the charge involving the piece of leased out land by state-run Rajdhani Unyan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) in Purbachal area on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

The ACC filed the case against the deposed premier on January 12, 2025, and the other co-accused, mostly government officials.

According to the charge sheet “with malicious intent”, Putul had illegally influenced her then-prime minister mother Hasina to get the plot and apply to her instead of RAJUK, violating the laws, rules, policies and legal procedures regarding the allocation of plots in the Purbachal New City Housing Project.

The ACC alleged Putul had done that “despite the fact that she and her family members owned a house or flat or housing facility in an area under the jurisdiction of RAJUK in Dhaka city".

Putul is currently serving as the South East Asian regional director for the World Health Organisation (WHO) based in New Delhi since November 1, 2023.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal earlier issued two identical arrest warrants against Hasina, her political colleagues and senior civil and military officials on charges like a crime against humanity and enforced disappearance as they are being prosecuted there.

But Thursday’s warrant came just a day after the ACC said it launched a new inquiry into the alleged “wastage” of Taka 4,000 crore by Hasina, her younger sister Sheikh Rehana and a former official for “Mujib Centenary” celebrations.

The ACC alleged that the amount it quoted was spent by the national exchequer.

He said the investigation into the matter, however, was underway as it began in January this year. "Our team is currently collecting information from various organisations." Bangladesh observed the yearlong celebration coinciding with the 100th birthday of Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 2020 while Hasina’s Awami League was in power.

Rehana did not hold any official position in the past regime while the third man to be investigated by ACC is Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, a former principal secretary to the government who served as the chief coordinator of the celebration after he retired from the government job.

ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen earlier this week said there was no difference between the former premier and a typical corrupt individual and “the process to bring back a corrupt fugitive is the same, whether it’s Hasina or anyone else”.

Hasina is also accused of numerous charges like mass murders and crimes against humanity, enforced disappearances while these cases were being filed with Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.

The tribunal was formed originally to try hardened collaborators of Pakistan troops during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and several of them were tried there and were executed as well subsequently after exhausting the appeal process.