Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 8 : Bangladesh's former President Abdul Hamid left the country nine months after the Awami League government was toppled in a student uprising. He left the country on a Thai Airways flight at 3:05 am (Local time) last night, a local news portal reported on Thursday.
After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government, some of the senior Awami League leaders are in prison, some went abroad and rest are absconding. Many leaders have been charged with various crimes, including murder. Abdul Hamid, the two-term President of Bangladesh, is also facing a murder case.
Many Awami League leaders have been arrested at airports, land ports, or border areas while trying to flee abroad. But it is believed that the government has allowed this senior politician to travel abroad.
Abdul Hamid's wife and his brother-in-law have also left the country with him. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India after the student-led uprising on August 5 last year.
An interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad eate Muhammad Ynus. Abdul Hamid has not been seen in public since then.
"According to Articles 34 and 102 of the Constitution, no Bangladeshi citizen can be prevented from travelling. Unless there is a specific ban from the court. We have not received any instructions to ban him. There was no request or application from the police to detain or arrest him in any case", online news website, Dhaka Post, reported quoting an airport official.
Earlier, Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka on Tuesday after undergoing medical treatment in London. She had gone to London on January 8 this year for treatment of various health complications.
Thousands of leaders and workers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) lined both sides of the road from the airport to Khaleda Zia's residence in Gulshan area in Dhaka to welcome her. The leaders and workers were carrying placards with Khaleda Zia's picture, the BNP party flag, and Bangladesh's national flag.
The army was deployed to maintain security. Zia's two daughters-in-law, Zubaida Rahman and Sharmila Rahman, accompanied her. She returned home on a special plane sent by Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Zia's son Tarique Rahman has been living in London for the past 17 years due to various cases filed during the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure. He is currently serving as the acting chairman of BNP from abroad.
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