Bangladesh moves Britain to send ‘fugitive’ Tarique back

Bangladesh’s foreign minister has written to his British counterpart to send back “fugitive” BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman.

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His deputy, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, confirmed bdnews24.com about the letter on Friday.

The letter was sent on Wednesday.

Alam said the foreign ministry also asked Bangladesh mission in London to report back the latest status of Tarique, following court orders.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s elder son who faces a slew of corruption charges has been living in London since 2008 after being released on parole during the military-backed caretaker government.

He was declared “absconding” by a Dhaka court trying him for money laundering charges.

But, of late, Tarique made headlines with controversial remarks on Bangladesh's history.

After that the High Court banned broadcast, publication and dissemination of his speeches and statements “as long as he is fugitive in the eyes of law”.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali’s letter to Philip Hammond followed Tarique's latest comments.

The court had earlier asked the foreign ministry to take measures to bring back Tarique for being a fugitive from justice.

The British High Commissioner in Dhaka and the ministers who in recent years visited Bangladesh never spoke about the BNP leader’s status.

“It's the policy of the UK government not to speak about immigration of any individual” - was their answer to the local media.