Purbachal plot case: Court seeks progress report on Hasina, others’ arrest warrants by 18 May

Highlights: 

• Hasina, Putul among 18 individuals facing arrest warrants
• ACC accuses Hasina of unlawfully securing six Purbachal plots
• Putul allegedly concealed family property ownership within Rajuk's jurisdiction

A Dhaka court has directed the officers-in-charge of 12 police stations to submit progress reports by 18 May on the execution of arrest warrants issued against 18 individuals, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed Putul, in a case over alleged irregularities in plot allocations in Purbachal New Town.

Judge Md Zakir Hossain of the Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court issued the order today (4 May) after police failed to provide any updates in court, reports The Daily Star.

On 10 April, the court issued arrest warrants against Hasina and 17 others after accepting the charges in the case. 

At the time, the court had instructed the concerned police stations across Dhaka and other regions to report on the warrant executions by 28 April.

Earlier on 25 March, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya, the investigation officer, submitted a charge sheet showing the accused as fugitives. 

She appealed for arrest warrants, noting that none of the accused had secured bail from any court.

According to ACC documents, Hasina allegedly colluded with senior Rajuk officials to unlawfully secure six residential plots — each measuring 10 kathas — in the diplomatic zone of Sector-27 of the Purbachal New Town project. 

The plots were allotted to Hasina; her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy; daughter Putul; sister Sheikh Rehana; and Rehana's children, Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq.

Six separate corruption cases were filed regarding the allocation of these plots. 

The case naming Hasina, Putul, and 16 others was lodged with the ACC's Dhaka Integrated District Office on 12 January. According to the case statement, Putul, listed as the prime accused, allegedly concealed her and her family's ownership of property within Rajuk's jurisdiction.

The 16 other accused in the case include government and Rajuk officials: Saiful Islam Sarkar, Purabi Goldar, Kazi Wasi Uddin, Shahid Ullah Khandaker, Anisur Rahman Mia, Md Khurshid Alam, Kabir Al Asad, Tanmoy Das, Md Nasir Uddin, Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury (retd), Md Hafizur Rahman, Md Habibur Rahman, Sheikh Shahinul Islam, Md Nurul Islam, Mohammad Salahuddin, and Sharif Ahmed.

The ACC has also pressed charges in five additional cases over the same plot allocation scheme. 

In those cases, arrest warrants were issued on 13 and 15 April against Joy, Rehana, Tulip Siddiq, Radwan Mujib, and Azmina Siddiq.