A Dhaka court has set May 12 as the new deadline for submitting reports on the execution of arrest warrants against 53 individuals, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and her niece Tulip Siddiq. The arrest warrants were issued in connection with separate cases related to alleged irregularities in acquiring plots within the RAJUK Purbachal New Town project.
The court, presided over by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib, passed this order on Sunday after the police failed to provide the required reports on the progress of the arrest warrants. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) public prosecutor, Mir Ahammed Salam, confirmed the details of the hearing to BSS.
Previously, on April 13, the same court had issued warrants for the arrest of 53 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, nieces Tulip Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, across three different cases. This was after the court accepted the formal charges filed in these cases.
One of the cases was filed by Salahuddin, a deputy director at the Anti-Corruption Commission, accusing Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and 12 others of illegally obtaining a 10-katha plot in the RAJUK Purbachal project through misuse of power and forgery.
Further investigations by Afnan Jannat Keya, the investigating officer, led to the filing of a charge sheet on March 10, which implicated additional individuals. A second case was filed against Azmina Siddiq on January 13 for a similar allegation regarding the misuse of power and forgery to obtain a 10-katha plot in the same project. A total of 16 people, including Sheikh Hasina and Tulip Siddiq, were named in this case, with two more individuals being added to the charge sheet on March 10.
Another case filed by ACC assistant director SM Rashedul Hasan on the same date, January 13, involved Radwan Mujib Siddiq and 15 others, who faced the same charges as their family members. This case also saw the filing of a charge sheet on March 10, which included the names of 18 accused individuals.
The allegations in these cases revolve around the claim that Sheikh Rehana, her daughter Azmina, and her son Radwan, alongside others such as Saima Wazed Putul, allegedly acted with malicious intent to illegally influence Sheikh Hasina. They are accused of submitting applications directly to her instead of to RAJUK, thereby bypassing proper legal procedures and violating laws regarding the allocation of plots in the Purbachal New Town Housing Project. Furthermore, the ACC claims that they had already owned property within the jurisdiction of RAJUK in Dhaka, raising questions about their eligibility for additional plots.
The court’s decision to set May 12 for the next submission indicates that the legal proceedings involving Sheikh Hasina and her family in this corruption case are far from over, and further developments are expected.
