The Bangladeshi army has announced the detention of over a dozen officers implicated in serious crimes committed during the 15-year rule of former leader Sheikh Hasina, whose government collapsed last year following widespread public outrage.
This unprecedented military action, revealed on Saturday, marks a significant step in the aftermath of Ms. Hasina’s removal and subsequent flight from the country.
These arrests follow recent warrants issued by the nation’s International Crimes Tribunal, a specialized civilian court, against 32 individuals. Among those named are Ms. Hasina herself, her former military secretary Maj. Gen. Kabir Ahmed, and various current and former security personnel. The charges include horrifying acts such as abduction, torture, enforced disappearances, and the brutal suppression of protests, which resulted in over 1,400 fatalities.
While Ms. Hasina has been the subject of several arrest warrants since her forced departure in August 2024, when angry crowds converged on her residence, a trial remains distant. India, her current refuge, has yet to respond to calls for her extradition.
Under the interim leadership of Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh faces a challenging transition away from authoritarianism, with intense political maneuvering preceding the February 2026 elections. Critics from Ms. Hasina’s political party allege that the current interim government is engaging in politically motivated prosecutions. The tribunal itself carries a controversial past, having been previously utilized by Ms. Hasina to target her own adversaries.
During a Saturday press conference, Maj. Gen. Md Hakimuzzaman, a military spokesperson, confirmed that 14 active officers and one recently retired officer were in army custody, undergoing the “legal process.” Many other individuals named in the warrants have either left the country or are in hiding.
These detained officers are scheduled for tribunal hearings on October 22, where decisions will be made regarding bail or formal police arrest.
Some observers interpret the army’s decision to hold these officers in its “custody” as a strategic move to assert institutional control or bypass standard police arrest procedures.
Further complicating matters, Mohammad Tajul Islam, the special court’s chief, cast doubt on the detentions, telling reporters on Sunday that legal protocol requires an arrested person to be presented in court within 24 hours.
He stated, “Since no one has officially informed us through documentary procedure that the person has been detained, we are not taking into account what has appeared in the media.”
General Hakimuzzaman clarified that the accused officers were not on regular army duty when the alleged crimes occurred; instead, they had been assigned to other units, including the Rapid Action Battalion and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, which reported directly to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
General Hakimuzzaman emphasized, “Despite this fact, they are now in our custody because they are members of the army.”
Throughout Ms. Hasina’s increasingly autocratic tenure, both police and military forces faced accusations of widespread killings, torture, and enforced disappearances targeting political opponents and dissidents. Military intelligence, including units where General Ahmed served, alongside various police and counter-terrorism forces, operated secret detention facilities, chillingly known as Aynaghar, or “the House of Mirrors.”
Within these clandestine military centers, hundreds were held in isolation, often for years, driven to the brink of madness or death. Following Ms. Hasina’s downfall, some survivors have courageously emerged to recount the horrors they endured.
“Those who committed the crimes must face trial,” asserted Mr. Islam, the chief of the special court, on Thursday when the warrants were issued. “They stood against the law, the Constitution, and the uniform while holding positions of responsibility and drawing salaries from the taxpayers’ money.”