Purbachal plot corruption: Arrest warrants issued for Hasina, Rehana, Tulip, Azmina
A Dhaka court has issued arrest warrants for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and 51 other accused in three separate cases filed over alleged abuse of power in acquiring plots from Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) in Purbachal New Town Project, a major urban development project on the outskirts of Dhaka.
Rehana's son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, daughter Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq are also among the accused.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib today issued the warrants after taking into cognisance the charge sheets submitted by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), confirmed court sources.
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The court issued the warrants as the accused were shown as fugitives in the charge sheets.
On 10 April, the same court also issued arrest warrants against 18 individuals, including Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, in connection with a case filed over the allocation of a 10-katha plot through fraud in the Purbachal project.
According to the information revealed from three charge sheets, Rehana, Bobby, and Azmina got plots in Purbachal New Town without submitting any application due to Tulip's influence.
They managed to get the plots from Rajuk by abusing the family's power and Tulip's influence on her maternal aunt Hasina, according to the charge sheets.
ACC Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya submitted the charge sheets to the court on 10 March, accusing 17 people in one of the cases.
Earlier, on 26 December last year, ACC launched an inquiry against Hasina, Rehana, and five of their children - including Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy - over allegations of illegally acquiring government plots spanning 60 kathas at Purbachal.
According to ACC Director General Md Akhtar Hossain, the Sheikh family members secretly and illegally acquired six 10-katha plots on Road No 203 under Sector 27 in the Diplomatic Zone of the Purbachal New City Project, with the help of senior Rajuk officials.
"They acquired the plots by abusing their power, through various irregularities, and in collusion with senior officials at Rajuk," he said while briefing journalists at the ACC headquarters in the capital.
Earlier, the High Court also formed a three-member committee to investigate irregularities in the allocation of the plots.
The committee, headed by a former High Court justice, was instructed to submit its report within four months.
Hasina and her family members took possession of the plots in 2022, after which the matter was classified as highly confidential.
According to the final allocation letter signed by Naib Ali Sharif, deputy director (Estate and Land-3) of Rajuk, the price was set at Tk3 lakh per katha, amounting to Tk30 lakh for each 10-katha plot.
Sheikh Hasina was allocated Plot No 9 on Road No 203 in Sector 27 of the proposed Diplomatic Zone within the Purbachal project. The allocation letter in her name was issued on 3 August 2022.
