A Dhaka court has imposed a travel ban on former chief of air staff, Air Chief Marshal (retd) Sheikh Abdul Hannan and 11 others, including his family members and associates, as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering.
The order was issued on Monday by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossen following petitions filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Those named in the order include Hannan’s wife Tahmida Begum, son Sheikh Labib Hannan, and daughter Sanjida Akter.
Alongside the former air chief’s family, Mehedi Hasan, reportedly linked to Orion Group; Zahid Uddin Tarik and Jasim Md Al-Amin, chairman and managing director of Zeal Wears Ltd respectively; Arif Ahmed Sony, deputy general manager at S. Alam Group; as well as Riyad Ahsan and Zafar Ahmad are in the list.
Also barred are Dr Mohammad Manjur Ahsan, chief scientific officer of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, and his wife Nargis Khanam.
According to the ACC, the former air chief is under investigation for allegedly abusing his position to accumulate illegal wealth, accepting bribes, manipulating recruitment, causing financial losses to the state, and laundering funds abroad.
A probe team has been formed to examine these allegations, the ACC confirmed, stating that the travel ban was necessary as some of the individuals had already attempted to leave the country.
In a related move, the same court ordered the seizure of a vehicle belonging to former Special Branch (SB) reporter Md Shamsul Haque Raju, also known as Raju Ahmed. The car, reportedly valued at Tk 24 lakh, was seized following a petition from the ACC.
The commission alleges Raju concealed wealth worth over Tk 2 crore and provided false information to investigators. It also claims he acquired assets valued at over Tk 3.42 crore in his name and in the names of his wife and dependent children, which do not align with his known sources of income.