An anti-corruption agency in Bangladesh on Wednesday said it has launched a probe into the alleged “wastage” of Taka 4,000 crore by the then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, and a former official for “Mujib Centenary” celebrations.
“The commission has formed a seven-member committee to conduct the inquiry,” Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director General Akhtar Hossain told reporters.
Hossain said the investigation was underway as the team has collected information from various organisations.
In 2020, Bangladesh observed the year-long celebrations, coinciding with the 100th birth anniversary of the country's founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Hasina.
Hasina’s Awami League party was in power at the time.
ACC alleged that the Hasina-led Awami League government spent Taka 4,000 crore from the national exchequer.
Rehana did not hold any official position in the past regime. The third man to be investigated by ACC is Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, a former principal secretary to the government who served as the chief coordinator of the celebration after his retirement.
ACC previously said it was investigating multiple allegations of corruption against the ousted premier and her family members.
The national anti-graft agency filed six separate cases against Hasina and Rehana in January, while officials said the commission approved the chargesheets in those cases on March 10.
Wednesday's development comes two days after ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen said there was no difference between the former premier and a typical corrupt individual.
“The process to bring back a corrupt fugitive is the same, whether it’s Hasina or anyone else,” he told reporters.
When asked if the ACC took any initiative to bring Hasina back to face trial, Momen said the anti-graft body discharged a prosecutor’s role.
"They (warrants) come from the court," Momen said, adding there were other procedures if the accused was absent.
The ACC chief said the anti-graft body would exhaust every available process to bring Hasina to justice and seek Interpol's support. “We are in communication with international prosecuting agencies." However, he added that bringing back those who fled the country required an international process, which was "a difficult one”.
Momen said many graft suspects were still in the country and several people were under the ACC's watch.
Hasina is also accused in numerous other cases, including mass murders, crimes against humanity, enforced disappearances, and faces trial in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.
The tribunal was formed to try collaborators of Pakistan troops during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and several of them were tried and executed in the body after exhausting the appeal process.
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