Bangladeshi Court Orders Seizure of Shakib Al Hasan’s Assets Amidst Political Ties Controversy

A Bangladeshi court has ordered the seizure of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan’s assets, marking a new legal complication for the sports figure due to his association with the country’s former leader.
Shakib is a former lawmaker from the party of autocratic ex-leader Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a student-led uprising last year and subsequently fled to neighboring India via helicopter.
His ties to Hasina have made him a target of public resentment, and he is among numerous individuals facing murder investigations related to a deadly police crackdown on protesters during the uprising.
While he has not been formally charged in those investigations, he is currently facing fraud charges for allegedly issuing bounced cheques totaling over $300,000.
A magistrate in the capital, Dhaka, issued the seizure order on Monday, following an arrest warrant for Shakib that was issued by the court in January.
At the time of Hasina’s government’s collapse, Shakib was participating in a domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Canada and has not returned to Bangladesh since.
The left-arm all-rounder has represented Bangladesh in 71 Tests, 247 One-Day Internationals, and 129 Twenty20s, amassing a combined total of 712 wickets.