Dhaka: Former Awami League MP Sabina Akter Tuhin was arrested on Monday in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, over multiple cases linked to the July 2024 protests, as the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government intensified its campaign of targeting former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party.
The Joint Commissioner (South) of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Nasirul Islam, confirming the development, stated that Tuhin, former MP for the Dhaka-14 constituency, was taken into custody in the early hours on Monday, local media reported.
“Tuhin, the former lawmaker for the Mirpur area, is accused in multiple cases, including one involving a murder during the July Uprising last year,” leading Bangladeshi daily, The Business Standard, quoted the police officer as saying.
In a separate development, police arrested former Managing Director (MD) of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Mohammad Monirul Moula on Sunday late at night from Dhaka’s Bashundhara Residential Area in connection with a corruption case.
Moula was appointed as the MD of the Islami Bank in January 2021, during the tenure of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Confirming the arrest, Nasirul Islam, Joint Commissioner (South) of the DB branch of DMP, stated that the police personnel detained Moula and took him to the DB office on Minto Road.
He said that Monirul was arrested on charges over a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Local media reported that the ACC, in December last year, filed a graft case against 58 people, including former IBBL MD Moula, and the bank’s former Chairman Ahsanul Alam, on charges of alleged embezzlement of Bangladeshi Taka 1,092 crore through loan fraud.
After the fall of the Awami League government, the central bank restructured Islami Bank’s board of directors, and in April, Moula was sent on a three-month forced leave over alleged involvement with loan irregularities.
In a continuing crackdown on the Awami League, last week, several other leaders of the party were placed under police remand for interrogation by the Yunus regime.
The Yunus-led administration has issued several arrest warrants against former Prime Minister Hasina, her family members, and Awami League supporters.
Analysts reckon the developments as a major political vendetta being pursued by the interim government led by Yunus, as several cases were filed against the former PM and her supporters on frivolous grounds, immediately after her ouster in August 2024.
The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country. The interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.
(IANS)
