“Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammad Zakir Hossain Galib issued the warrant accepting the ACC charge sheet in the case,” ACC prosecutor Mir Ahammed Salam told reporters.

The court directed the ACC to submit its investigation report on May 4 regarding the case, which centres on a piece of land leased by the state-run Rajdhani Unyan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) in Purbachal, on Dhaka’s outskirts.

According to the charge sheet, Putul, currently the WHO’s Southeast Asia Regional Director, allegedly influenced her then-prime minister mother to bypass standard procedures in securing the plot. The ACC said she applied directly to her mother, instead of RAJUK, in violation of existing laws and regulations, despite owning other properties under RAJUK’s jurisdiction.

The ACC had filed the case on January 12, 2025, against Hasina and several former government officials.

This development follows two previous arrest warrants issued by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal against Hasina and others for alleged crimes against humanity. It also comes a day after the ACC launched a new probe into the alleged misappropriation of Taka 4,000 crore during the “Mujib Centenary” celebrations, involving Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and retired official Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury.

The ACC chairman, Mohammad Abdul Momen, stated this week that fugitives—regardless of their identity—would face the same legal process. “The process to bring back a corrupt fugitive is the same, whether it’s Hasina or anyone else,” he said.

Hasina also faces other accusations including mass murder, enforced disappearances, and crimes against humanity. These charges are being processed by the International Crimes Tribunal, originally set up to prosecute collaborators from the 1971 Liberation War.

The Awami League government, led by Hasina for 16 years, was overthrown in August last year following a student-led uprising. Since then, 77-year-old Hasina has reportedly been living in India, which has yet to respond to Bangladesh’s request for her extradition.-Agencies