Arrest warrant against 53 including Hasina, Rehana, Tulip, Radwan

This time the court has ordered to issue arrest warrant against 53 people including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddiq, and son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby.

The order was given in connection with three more separate cases filed on charges of the corruption allegation in plot allocation.

Senior special judge of Dhaka Metropolitan, Md Zakir Hossain, passed the order today, Sunday, after taking into cognizance the charge sheets in three separate cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Sources at the ACC and the court confirmed the development to Prothom Alo.

Sources at the court said that the ACC recently submitted charge sheets in the court against 53 people in three separate cases filed on allegation of corruption in plot allocation.

Today was fixed for the hearing for taking the charge sheets into cognisance.

Since 53 people indicted in the case, including Sheikh Hasina, are absconding, the court took cognisance of the charge sheets and ordered to issue the arrest warrants against them.

Earlier on 10 April, there was an order for issuance of arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul in another corruption case in plot allocation.

The ACC launched an investigating into the allocation of plots under the names of Sheikh Hasina herself and members of her family on 26 December last year. The ACC then went on to file six cases against Sheikh Hasina and others on allegation of irregularities in allocating plot under the Purbachal New Town Project.

The ACC gave approval for charge sheet against Sheikh Hasina and seven other members of her family on 10 March on charges of allotting 60 katha of plots under the Purbachal New Town Project through misuse of power and various irregularities in mutual collusion.

Later, the ACC submitted charge sheets in the court in six cases. The accused named in the charge sheet are Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, Sheikh Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana, Rehana’s daughters British MP Tulip Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq Rupanti and son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby.

According to ACC charge sheets, it has been alleged in the case that some plots of 60 kathas, 10 katha each in size were allotted by RAJUK in Purbachal to Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, along with their family members, through various irregularities and corruption.

The government led by Sheikh Hasina fell in the face of a student-people's uprising on last 5 August. Since then, more than 300 cases have been filed against Sheikh Hasina in the courts and police stations of Dhaka alone on various allegations including charges of murder by opening fire on the anti-discrimination student movement.