Hasina, Joy, 27 others face arrest warrants

A Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and 27 others in connection with two separate corruption cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged irregularities in land allocations in Dhaka’s Purbachal area.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Zakir Hossain Galib accepted the charge sheets submitted by the ACC and issued the arrest warrants on Tuesday (April 15), citing that the accused were absconding.

The first case, in which Sheikh Hasina is the prime accused, includes 12 individuals, including officials from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK). In the second case, filed against her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, a total of 17 individuals—including Sheikh Hasina—have been named as accused.

Among those facing arrest warrants are: Md Saiful Islam Sarkar, administrative officer at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works; Senior Assistant Secretary Purabi Goldar; Additional Secretary (Admin) Kazi Wasi Uddin; Secretary Md Shahid Ullah Khandaker; former PA to the RAJUK chairman Md Anisur Rahman Miah; former RAJUK members Md Khurshid Alam (estate and land), Tanmoy Das (development control), and Mohammad Nasir Uddin; Major (Retd) Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury (development); Director Md Kamrul Islam; Assistant Director Majharul Islam; Deputy Director Nayeb Ali Sharif; Director Md Nurul Islam; and

former RAJUK member Shafiul Haque.

Assistant Director of the ACC’s Prosecution Division, Aminul Islam, confirmed the matter and said the court fixed April 28 for submission of a report on whether the accused have been arrested.

According to the case statement, while serving as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina allegedly abused her power to conceal the fact that she and close family members—including her son, daughter, sister, niece, and nephew—already owned homes or apartments in Dhaka. Despite this, she allegedly acquired a highly valuable plot in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27, Road 203, Plot 9 of the Purbachal New Town Housing Project, violating legal procedures, policies, and the standard allocation process.

The charges further allege that she influenced officials from her own office, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, and RAJUK to secure the plot by abusing her power while holding the highest public office, thereby committing offenses punishable under relevant sections of the Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In early March, the ACC submitted the charge sheets to the court.

Previously, on April 10, the same court issued arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and 16 others in another case related to plot allocation corruption. On April 13, the court issued arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, Rehana’s son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, daughter Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq, and 48 others in three separate cases over the alleged misuse of power in acquiring 30 kathas of land from RAJUK.