Dhaka court issues travel ban on 14 former Awami League ministers and lawmakers over corruption allegations

Dhaka: A Dhaka court on Thursday issued a travel ban on 14 former Awami League ministers and lawmakers in connection with corruption allegations brought against them by the interim government in Bangladesh, according to a media report.

The development comes after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League resigned and fled to India on August 5 following the mass movement against her government.

An interim government replaced her regime and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser –- a position equivalent to prime minister.

The Daily Star newspaper reported that the travel ban has been issued against former social welfare minister Dipu Moni, former health minister Zahid Maleque, former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, former food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, former industrial minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun and former industrial deputy minister Kamal Ahmed Majumder.

Former lawmakers Salim Uddin, Mamunur Rashid Kiron, Kujendra Lal Tripura, Kajim Uddin, Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury Liton, Shahjahan Khan, Kamrul Islam and Ziaur Rahman have also been barred from leaving the country.

Judge Mohammed Ash-Shams Joglul Hossain of the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge’s Court in Dhaka passed the order after Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Abu Hena Ashiqur Rahman, who is also conducting the investigation, submitted an application.

ACC Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir had moved the petition on behalf of the ACC.

In the application, Jahangir said the former ministers and lawmakers, who have graft allegations against their names, were trying to flee the country. So, a travel ban is needed to prevent them from leaving the country.

The ACC informed the court that an investigation is underway into the allegations that they all amassed huge amounts of money through illegal means during their tenure.

Meanwhile, a top adviser of the interim government on Thursday said that over 1,000 people have been killed during the protests against the Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh while more than 400 were blinded by police fire, with some of them losing sight in one or both eyes.

Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum disclosed this during a visit to the Central Police Hospital in the capital's Rajarbagh where she interacted with the police personnel injured in clashes and spoke to those at the surgical department to ask about their condition.

"So far 1,000 people have been killed and more than 400 students and members of the general public have lost their sight. Many have been blind in one eye, while others are blind in both," Nurjahan was quoted as saying by the bdnews24.com news portal.

An anti-discrimination student movement against the government started in mid-July over a controversial quota system in jobs. The protests turned violent after a crackdown by the forces.

Several protesters were killed and injured during clashes with the police in different parts of the country. The protest movement then transformed into an anti-government movement, demanding prime minister Hasina's resignation.