Bangladesh files criminal case against UK minister Tulip Siddiq
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MP accused of misusing her position to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt Sheikh Hasina. Authorities in Bangladesh have filed a criminal case against the UK Treasury minister, Tulip Siddiq, accusing her of misusing her position as an MP to gain influence and illegally acquire land with her aunt, the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Siddiq has faced mounting calls to resign over her links to Hasina, who was toppled in August after mass protests across Bangladesh and is facing charges of corruption and crimes against humanity. On Monday, Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission (ACC) said it had filed a case against Hasina and her wider family over an alleged large-scale land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital, Dhaka. The case named the former prime minister as well as Siddiq.
“Sheikh Hasina, in collaboration with some officials, allocated plots for herself and her family members,” said the ACC director general, Akhter Hossain. “The ACC investigation team has obtained the necessary documents and found sufficient evidence to file the cases.”.
In the police report detailing the alleged corruption, filed by the ACC deputy director, Mohammad Salahuddin, it said Siddiq “became aware” of a deal orchestrated by Hasina that allotted large plots of land in Dhaka to family members. It alleged that, while serving as a UK member of parliament, Siddiq then “used her special influence and authority to pressure and influence her aunt, Ms Sheikh Hasina” to arrange similar land allocations for Siddiq’s mother, sister and brother. The evidence for these claims, it added, was “revealed from various sources”.
