Sheikh Hasina’s former minister Farhad Hossain arrested

He faces multiple murder charges

Former public administration minister Farhad Hossain has been arrested in Dhaka.

The Rapid Action Battalion, or RAB, detained the former Awami League MP for Meherpur-1 from a flat at house No. 398, New Eskaton, under Hatirjheel Police Station on Saturday night, according to a statement from the elite police force.

bdnews24.com could not obtain information about the owner of the flat.

Lt Col Md Munim Ferdous, the RAB spokesperson, said the former minister faces three murder cases in Meherpur Police Station and one in Adabor Police Station in Dhaka.

“We have put him into the custody of the Adabor Police” Ferdous said.

Several MPs from the Awami League, including ministers, state ministers, and former advisor to the Prime Minister, have already been arrested.

Most of these arrests are linked to cases arising from incidents of violence during the Anti-discrimination Student Movement demanding reforms to quotas in government jobs.

Farhad, who served as a cabinet minister in Sheikh Hasina's government after the 12th parliamentary elections, was previously a state minister in the same ministry.

He was elected to parliament from Meherpur-1 constituency three times on an Awami League ticket.

His late father, Mohammad Sahiuddin Bishwas, was the founding president of Meherpur Awami League and served as a member of the Pakistan National Assembly from the northwestern district in 1970.

Sahiuddin was also a key organiser in the Liberation War and played a significant role in establishing the provisional government in Mujibnagar.