Bangladesh has told neighbour India that it wants former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to New Delhi in August, back in the country for “judicial process”, the acting head of the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
“We sent a note verbale to the Indian government saying that the Bangladesh government wants her [Hasina] back here for judicial process,” Touhid Hossain told reporters, referring to diplomatic correspondence between the two countries.
India’s foreign ministry and Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
Bangladesh launched a probe into the alleged US$5 billion embezzlement connected to a Russian-backed nuclear power plant by Hasina and her family, the anti-corruption commission said on Monday.
Along with Hasina, the now-former prime minster who fled to India after being toppled by a revolution in August, those subject to the inquiry include her son, Joy, and niece, Tulip Siddiq, a British lawmaker and government minister.
The allegations were raised by a writ seeking an investigation filed in the high court by Hasina’s political opponent, Bobby Hajjaj, chairman of the Nationalist Democratic Movement party.