Staff Reporter: A Dhaka court has ordered ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 12 others to appear before it in connection with six graft cases initiated by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged irregularities in plot allocations in Purbachal. The interim government has also been directed to publish the order in an official gazette. Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Ghalib issued the directive on Tuesday, following a petition from the anti-graft watchdog. The deposed premier has been asked to submit her statement in this regard by Jul 1, according to ACC prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam.
Others ordered to appear include former state minister for Housing and Public Works Sharif Ahmed, Ministry of Housing and Public Works Senior Assistant Secretary Purabi Goldar, former chairman of RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, or Capital Development Authority) Md Anisur Rahman Miah, former RAJUK members Shafiul Haque, Khurshid Alam, Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Nayeb Ali Sharif, Saiful Islam Sarkar, Kazi Wasi Uddin, and Shahid Ullah Khondoker.
The ACC lawyer said: “Today was the scheduled date for six cases involving corruption in plot allocations. In five of those cases, police failed to submit reports on the arrest of the accused. “The report in one case cited that 12 individuals, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, are absconding. “We then petitioned the court to publish a gazette ordering the accused to appear before the court. The court later ordered that the gazette be issued through the BG (Bangladesh Government) Press.” The Hasina-led Awami League government was toppled by a student-led mass movement on Aug 5, 2024. That day Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana fled the country to India. Other members of her family were abroad at the time.
In December, the ACC launched an investigation into allegations of irregularities and corruption against them in the allocation of six plots under the Purbachal New Town Project. Six cases were eventually filed and chargesheets have already been submitted. As the accused remain at large, arrest warrants have been issued against them.
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