Arrest warrant against Sheikh Hasina, daughter Saima in plot allotment corruption case

The court has ordered the issuance of an arrest warrant against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul in a case filed on allegations of corruption in plot allotment. Dhaka city senior special judge, Md Zakir Hossain, gave the order in the morning today, Thursday.

Sources related to the court say that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has recently submitted a charge sheet against 18 people, including Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, in a case filed on allegations of corruption in plot allotment. Today was the hearing date set for taking that charge sheet into cognisance.

The court took the charge sheet filed by the ACC into cognisance and gave an order to issue an arrest warrant against those 18 people, including Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul. The court has also ordered the submission of a report on 5 May regarding the execution of the arrest warrant.

Sources from the court say that a charge sheet has been filed against 23 people, including Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, and four other members of their family, in another case of corruption in plot allotment.

The ACC filed a case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed on 12 January this year on charges of allotment-related corruption.

Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed have been accused in the case along with former RAJUK chairman Md Anisur Rahman Mia, former secretary of housing and public works ministry Md Shahid Ullah Khandaker, former RAJUK members Mohammad Khurshid Alam, Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Major (retd) Engineer Samsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury.

Earlier on 26 December last year ACC started investigating about the plots allocated under the names of Sheikh Hasina and members of her family.

In addition to that, ACC gave approval for charge sheet against 23 people including Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and four other members of their family on 10 March. Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed, daughter Saima Wazed, Sheikh Rehana’s son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby and daughter Azmina Siddiq Rupanti have been named in the charge sheet.

The ACC filed two separate cases against Sheikh Hasina and her son Sajeeb Wazed last January on allegations of acquiring two plots, each 10 katha in size, in the Purbachal New Town project by withholding information and misusing power. A total of 23 people, including officials from the housing and public works ministry and RAJUK, have been accused in the case.

The ACC has stated that Sheikh Hasina, through abuse of power and corruption, had a 10-katha plot allotted under her own name in the Purbachal New Town project. A case has been filed on this allegation with her as the main accused. Through misuse of power and irregularities, another 10-katha plot was allotted in the same project under the name of her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy. The other case regarding this incident was filed against Joy as the main accused, and Sheikh Hasina as an associate.

Sheikh Hasina has been accused in a total of six cases on allegations of irregularities in plot allocation under the Purbachal New Town project.