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A Bangladeshi arrest warrant has been issued for former UK City minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations that she abused political power to unlawfully acquire land in an upscale township near Dhaka.
A court issued the warrant for Siddiq, alongside her mother Sheikh Rehana, her aunt and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and other members of the family, an Anti-Corruption Commission official told the Financial Times.
Siddiq had been summoned to appear for a hearing on Sunday, following an earlier notice issued on April 10. After she failed to attend, the court issued arrest warrants, said the official.
The case, brought by Bangladesh’s ACC centres on claims that the family illegally obtained approximately half an acre plot in Purbachal, a planned residential area on the outskirts of the capital.
The ACC claims Siddiq used her political influence to secure government plots for herself and her family, benefiting from the unlawful allocation of state-owned land.
The court had previously issued warrants on April 10 against 18 individuals, in connection with a separate case involving alleged irregularities in land allocations.
Lawyers representing Siddiq said in a statement: “The ACC has not responded to Ms Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.”
“Ms Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued,” they added.
They said that “there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means” and added “it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated”.
Siddiq resigned from her ministerial post in January amid political pressure following allegations, first reported by the FT, that she had benefited from properties linked to the Awami League, the authoritarian party led by her aunt Sheikh Hasina.
The agency has also alleged Siddiq used a fake notary to transfer a separate flat to her sister.
Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year tenure came to an end last August amid widespread protests against her regime.
Siddiq’s lawyers hit back against the allegations last month, arguing that the former minister was the victim of “false, vexatious and uncorroborated allegations” and that the media has been used by the Bangladeshi authorities as a “vehicle to publish allegations” that had “no truth”, and which had not been put to their client.
They said that she had gifted the property to her sister following her election as an MP in a “legitimately and lawfully made” transfer registered with the Bangladeshi authorities.
