NCB seeks 'red notice' against 12, including Hasina, Quader

An appeal has been placed seeking Interpol red notice against 12 people, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The National Central Bureau (NCB) of Bangladesh Police made the appeal in three separate phases to issue red notice against those 12 who are absconding abroad.

These 12 persons include former prime minister and Awami League (AL) president Sheikh Hasina; former road transport and bridges minister and AL general secretary Obaidul Quader; former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, former foreign minister and AL joint general secretary Hassan Mahmud; former jute and textile minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak, former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, former Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sheikh Fazle Nur, former prime minister's defence advisor Major General (retd) Tariq Ahmed Siddique, former state minister for power Nasrul Hamid, former state minister for information Mohammad Ali Arafat and former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.

Police Headquarter Sources say the NCB appeals to the Interpol for issuing red notice at the behest of the prosecution or the concerned investigating agency.

A relevant police source said all of them except the former IGP have been accused of crimes against humanity in the appeal. Benazir Ahmed has been accused of financial discrepancies.

The appeals against 10 of them, excluding Sheikh Hasina and Benazir Ahmed, were submitted to the Interpol on 10 April. Before that, the International Crimes Tribunal requested the home ministry to seek Interpol red notices against nine ministers and an adviser of the previous Awami League government and sent relevant evidence and documents to the ministry and the Police Headquarters.

The chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal sought an Interpol red notice for the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in November last year.

Meanwhile the appeal to issue Interpol red notice against Benazir Ahmed was placed in last February. Earlier, a Dhaka court ordered to take initiatives to issue a red notice against Benazir, following a plea by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

There are also efforts from the government to return the absconding persons from countries with extradition treaties with Bangladesh, including India, under the treaty. However, relevant officials feel it would not be easy to return the accused under extradition treaty.

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in the face of the mass uprising of students and people on 5 August last year. She is still residing in India. Bangladesh has an extradition treaty with India. Bangladesh has officially requested India to return her under the extradition treaty.

So far, three cases have been filed against Sheikh Hasina with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). One of these cases has been filed against her on the allegations of killing people during the July uprising, genocide and direct involvement in crimes against humanity. Former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-mamun has also been accused in the case.

Apart from that, a case has been filed over killing and torturing Hefazat-e-Islam activists in the capital’s Shapla Chatwar area in 2013 and another over the incidents of enforced disappearances and targeted killings in the last 15 years.

The case filed over Sheikh Hasina’s involvement in crime against humanity is in its final phase, said chief ICT prosecutor. The case investigation report is scheduled to be submitted to the tribunal next Sunday.

A total of 196 countries are members of Interpol now. Police Headquarters sources say the NCB has regular contact with the other 195 countries in terms of sharing and scrutinising information on criminals and their activities. Interpol red notice is sought to bring a criminal to book who has fled the country.

Each of the 12 people against whom the NCB is seeking the Interpol red notice, has arrest warrants issued by different courts in various cases.

The Interpol notifies on their website whenever it issues a red notice against somebody with details of crimes. As of Friday evening, the international agency had issued red notices against 6,583 people, including 62 Bangladeshis. However, the names of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 11 others were not in the list.

Notable among the Bangladeshis under Interpol red notice are – Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, who was sentenced to life in prison over killing special branch inspector Emran Khan, top terror Jishan Ahmed, top terror Prakash Kumar Biswas and former lawmaker Golam Faruk Auvi and the accused in Bangabandhu murder case.

Prothom Alo has spoken to five top officials of the government and the police to find out the reason as to why the names of the 12 accused, against whom the NCB is seeking red notice, has not appeared in the list of Interpol red notice as yet.

They said the process of issuing red notice starts after the appeal is submitted. However, Interpol goes through a thorough scrutinisation process of cases with political affiliations. The AL leaders and activists abroad and pro-AL Bangladeshi expatriates are trying to portray the move as politically motivated. As a result, the process can get delayed. However, it will be prompt in the case of Benazir Ahmed as he is accused of financial irregularities and corruption.

The Anti-corruption Commission launched investigations against former IGP Benazir Ahmed, after allegations of massive corruption and irregularities against him surfaced during the AL-rule. He left the country along with his family on 4 May last year while the investigations were still underway. He served as the IGP from April 2020 to September 2022. He also served as the director general (DG) of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from January 2015 to April 2020.

Some 10 persons among the accused, including AL general secretary Obaidul Quader, fled the country before and within a few days before and after 5 August last year. Of them, former DSCC mayor Fazle Nur fled the country on 3 August.

A relevant police source said there are mainly two major concerns in bringing back those who have been hiding in other countries since the fall of the AL government. First, some of these absconding AL leaders hold permanent residence permits of the country they are residing in at the moment. Second, the beneficiaries of the deposed AL government living abroad are spending huge money to appoint lobbyists to obstruct the extradition process of these top Awami League leaders and their associates.

Relevant NCB sources say a red notice is not any arrest warrant as such. However, people with Interpol red notice could be detained at the airport or the immigration during international trips. In some cases, the accused could be deported back to his own country.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Police Headquarters assistant IGP (media and public relations) Enamul Haque said, “Interpol usually helps trace the accused absconding abroad. Similarly, a member country notifies the Interpol if it has any information about the location of any fugitive. The appeals seeking red notice against the 12 top echelons of the fallen AL government are now under process.”

* This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashish Basu