DHAKA: A Bangladeshi court ordered the seizure of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan’s assets in the latest legal headache for the sports star over his allegiance to the country’s former leader.

Shakib is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, who was overthrown in a student-led uprising last year and fled by helicopter to neighbouring India.

His links to Hasina made him a target of public anger and he was among dozens facing murder investigations for a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.

He has not been charged over those allegations but is currently being prosecuted on fraud charges for allegedly bouncing cheques totalling more than $300,000.

A magistrate in the capital Dhaka ordered the seizure on Monday after a warrant for Shakib’s arrest was issued by the court in January.

Shakib was playing in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada when Hasina’s government collapsed and has not returned to Bangladesh since.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2025