Dhaka, Sep 2: A court in Bangladesh Monday debarred 17 former ministers, including ex-foreign minister Mohammad Hasan Mahmud, and nine lawmakers of the ousted Sheikh Hasina government from leaving the country after an anti-graft body filed petitions, accusing them of involvement in corruption, a media report said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammad As-Shams Jaglul Hossain’s court gave this order after hearing the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) applications on Monday, Bengali language newspaper Prothom Alo reported.
ACC Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam and Mahmud Hossain Jahangir confirmed the travel ban on these former ministers and members of parliament.
Those banned from leaving the country include ex-foreign minister Hasan Mahmud; former minister of state for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid; former minister of state for shipping Khalid Mahmud, former minister of state for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and former state minister for primary and mass education Md Zakir Hossain, the paper said.
Former minister of state for local government, rural development and cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee; former commerce minister Tipu Munshi; ex-law minister Anisul Huq; former religious affairs minister Faridul Haque Khan; former textiles and jute minister Golam Dastagir Gazi; former minister of state for youth and sports Md Zahid Ahsan Russell; former water resources minister Anwar Hossain and former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu were among those banned from travelling, the paper added.
Besides, the court has banned several parliamentarians from going abroad.
Indian visa centres open limited slots
Indian Visa Application Centres in Bangladesh’s major cities have begun offering limited appointment slots for Bangladeshi nationals requiring urgent medical and student visas.
The services are being offered in Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna. “In addition, these five centres have also opened limited appointment slots for urgent cases where Bangladesh students and workers need to travel to third countries and for which they already have visa appointments with foreign embassies in India,” Indian Visa Application Centre in Bangladesh said.
“These services will remain limited in nature until IVAC resumes its normal operations at a later date,” the statement said. (PTI)
