A Dhaka court has been sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years' of imprisonment for misuse of power in securing a 10-katha government plot in Purbachal area.

The court also sentenced her three nieces UK MP Tulip Siddiq to four years' imprisonment and Azmina Siddiq Ruponti and Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby to seven years' separately.

Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka on Monday handed down the judgement in two cases involving plot allocations.

In the same verdict, the other accused in the case were also sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and fines according to the severity of their crimes.

All convicts were also fined Tk 100,000 each, with an additional six months rigorous imprisonment in default of payment.

According to the prosecution, two separate 10-katha plots in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27 of the Purbachal New Town project were illegally allocated- one in the name of Radwan Mujib Siddiq and the other in the name of Azmina Siddiq Rupanti, both children of Sheikh Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana. Investigators alleged that the allocations were made through undue influence and manipulation of administrative processes.

Tulip Siddiq, another daughter of Sheikh Rehana and a sitting British MP, was also implicated in the cases following the ACC investigation, which found her to be a beneficiary of the irregular allocation process.

The ACC filed the two cases on January 13 last year. In the first case, Radwan Mujib Siddiq was made the principal accused, while Sheikh Hasina, Tulip Siddiq and 14 others were named as co-accused. In the second case, Azmina Siddiq Rupanti was named as the principal accused, alongside the same set of co-accused.

Following investigations conducted by ACC assistant directors SM Rashedul Hasan and Afnan Jannat Keya, charge sheets were submitted to the court on March 10, expanding the number of accused to 18 in each case. The charge sheets included senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), alleging their direct involvement in facilitating or approving the illegal allocations.

Among the convicted are former housing and public works state minister Sharif Ahmed, former RAJUK chairman Md Anisur Rahman Mia, several former RAJUK members responsible for estate, planning and development and senior bureaucrats from the housing ministry. Sheikh Hasina’s former private secretary Mohammad Salahuddin was also convicted.

The court found that the accused officials had collectively abused their positions, bypassed eligibility criteria and violated allocation rules to ensure the plots were allotted to politically influential beneficiaries.

The trial concluded after a prolonged judicial process, during which the prosecution presented documentary evidence, official records and witness testimonies to establish abuse of power, procedural violations and personal gain.

In delivering the verdict, the court observed that the offences constituted serious corruption involving misuse of state authority and public resources, warranting strict punishment under existing anti-corruption laws.

The verdict is being viewed as a major development in post-regime accountability efforts, as it involves convictions of a former prime minister, her family members, and senior government officials in a single corruption case related to state land allocation.

No immediate reaction was available from the convicted individuals or their legal representatives at the time of filing this report.

Sun News/ra