Dhaka: A Bangladeshi court has ordered the seizure of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan’s assets amid ongoing legal troubles tied to his association with the country’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Shakib, a former lawmaker from Hasina’s Awami League party, has faced intense scrutiny since Hasina was overthrown in a student-led uprising last year.
His links to the former leader made him a target of public outrage, and he was among dozens investigated for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising. While he has not been charged in that case, he is currently being prosecuted for fraud over allegedly bouncing cheques worth more than $300,000.
According to court records, Agro Farm, a company owned by Shakib, issued two cheques totaling Tk 41.5 lakh to repay loans from IFIC Bank’s Banani branch, both of which were dishonored due to insufficient funds. A magistrate in Dhaka ordered the asset seizure on Monday following an arrest warrant issued against him in January.
Shakib, who was in Canada playing in a domestic Twenty20 league when Hasina’s government collapsed, has not returned to Bangladesh since. The veteran left-arm allrounder has played 71 Tests, 247 One-Day Internationals, and 129 Twenty20 matches for Bangladesh, taking a combined 712 wickets.
