Bangladesh’s ex-foreign minister Hasan Mahmud and former state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak were detained on Tuesday at Dhaka airport while trying to leave the country, news agency PTI reported. This occurred a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the nation following deadly protests against her administration. Mahmud was at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport intending to board a flight to Delhi, as reported by an Airport Aviation Security (AVSEC) official to the Dhaka Tribune.
He was taken into custody at the airport during his attempt to escape Bangladesh, the official stated. Mahmud had held the position of foreign minister under the ousted Hasina government. Media outlets reported that Mahmud had previously tried to escape through a land border with India but was prevented from crossing.
His capture followed shortly after Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the former state minister for post, telecommunication, and ICT, was stopped from leaving the country by airport authorities. Palak was detained at the airport and then transferred to the custody of the Air Force, which is currently managing the airport’s security.
Reports earlier indicated that several senior members and legislators of Hasina’s Awami League, as well as cabinet ministers, had left the country before her departure. Awami League’s general secretary and the minister for road transport and bridges, Obaidul Quader, departed the country on Sunday night.
Former law minister Anisul Huq also left for an undisclosed location before Hasina’s resignation, according to his personal aide. Salman F Rahman, the deposed prime minister’s adviser on private industry and investment and a lawmaker, also left the country on Sunday night, his aides reported, although they could not confirm his destination.
Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation and Hasina’s nephew, departed on a Biman flight to Singapore on Saturday morning, according to aviation sources. Controversial lawmaker Shamim Osman also fled the country last week.
Former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury and local government, rural development and cooperatives minister Md Tazul Islam left the country through the airport.
Former finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and sports minister Nazmul Hassan Papon also left the country, sources said. Besides, former MP of Munshiganj-3 Mrinal Kanti Das and supreme court judge Md Badruzzaman also left the country.
Several leaders of Awami League’s student front ‘Chhatra League’, including its president and general secretary, also left the country on Monday.
Several other ministers left their official or private residences as the government was ousted following the violent protests over a quota system for government jobs. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon called on India to arrest Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana, and send them back to Bangladesh.
“We want to maintain a good relationship with the people of India. Please, arrest Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who fled the country, and send them back to Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina has killed many people in Bangladesh,” Khokon, who is also a joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
