
A Bangladeshi court has issued an arrest warrant against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinaโs niece and UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over allegations that she received a 7,200 sq ft plot of land in Bangladeshโs capital Dhaka.
It has been alleged that she received the land when Hasina was serving as the PM of the country.
Apart from UK MP Tulip, the Bangladesh court issued an arrest warrant against Hasina, who was ousted from power on August 5, 2024, amid violent protests against her regime, and 51 others.
Judge Md. Zakir Hossain of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judgeโs Court passed the order after accepting the charges brought against them, reported The Daily Star.
The court has now accepted charges against Hasina and her family members in four out of a total of six cases filed over the plot allocation irregularities, an official of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) told the newspaper.
The ACC officials showed all the 23 โaccusedโ as fugitives. They have not secured any bail from any court in Bangladesh so far.
The judge asked officers-in-charge of several police stations in Dhaka and other parts of the country to submit progress reports on the execution of the arrest warrants by April 27.
Siddiqโs Lawyers Deny Allegations
Meanwhile, Tulip Siddiqโs lawyers told Sky News the allegations are โcompletely falseโ, adding there was โno basis at all for any charges to be made against herโ.
They said there was โabsolutely no truthโ behind the allegations regarding the plot of land.
Tulip Siddiq had quit as a Treasury Minister following an investigation by the Prime Ministerโs ethics adviser into her suspected links to Hasinaโs regime.
Siddiq told Sky News her lawyers were โreadyโ to handle any formal questions about allegations of corruption in Bangladesh.
In her first public comments since leaving government, Siddiq said, โThereโs been allegations for months on end and no one has contacted meโ.
Bangladesh Political Turmoil
The July uprising in Bangladesh saw thousands of students participate in the anti-job quota movement last year, which later spiralled into a massive, violent demonstration against the former PM Sheikh Hasina-led government that had served the country for the longest period since the nation was formed in 1971.
Hasina fled to neighbouring India on August 5, 2025, leading to the fall of her government just months after she returned to power for another term following a massive win in the general polls, which was boycotted by the countryโs main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
(With inputs from IBNS)