Former state minister for Home Affairs Sohel Taj has initiated contact with the interim government after being stopped at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while about to travel to the United States due to an existing “travel ban.”
He confirmed the matter to TIMES of Bangladesh over phone on Saturday afternoon.
Sohel Taj stated that he has traveled abroad multiple times since the current government took office without facing any obstacles. After being prevented on Wednesday, he has been in contact with the appropriate authorities, expressing hope that he would learn of the reason he had been stopped by Sunday.
Special Branch (SB) Chief Additional IGP Golam Rasul said that there are restrictions on Sohel Taj traveling outside the country, imposed by the independent investigation commission formed regarding the Pilkhana BDR massacre. As such, he was turned back at the hospital.
The special superintendent (SS) of immigration at the airport confirmed that Sohel Taj was sent back from the airport due to an existing “travel ban.”
Incidentally, on Friday afternoon, Mahjabin Ahmed Mimi, the younger daughter of the country’s first Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed and Sohel Taj’s sister, informed this reporter that Sohel Taj had been prevented from traveling abroad.
Sohel Taj was scheduled to travel to the United States on Qatar Airways on the night of 24 September. However, he was sent back from the airport due to the travel ban.
Sohail Taj was elected as a Member of Parliament from Gazipur-4 (Kapasia) in the 2001 election during the Awami League government’s term. He was re-elected as an MP from the same constituency in 2008.
On 6 January, 2009, Sohail Taj was given the responsibility of State Minister for Home Affairs in the Awami League-led cabinet. On 31 May of the same year, Sohel Taj resigned from the cabinet citing “personal reasons.”
