Hasina’s locker found at Pubali Bank; CIC launches operation

The Central Intelligence Cell (CIC) of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has discovered a bank locker belonging to Sheikh Hasina at the Pubali Bank branch in Motijheel. Alongside the locker, two Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) — one in her name and another jointly held — have also been identified.

CIC officials started an operation early Wednesday morning to open the locker and investigate its contents.

Following her removal from office amid mass protests, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had uncovered several undisclosed assets linked to Sheikh Hasina, raising allegations of concealment.

According to sources, one FDR is in Sheikh Hasina’s name worth Tk 1.2 million, and the other, held jointly, is valued at Tk 4.4 million.

NBR officials said Sheikh Hasina visited the bank twice to open the locker and retained both keys, although banking regulations require one key to be kept by the bank.

Earlier, despite a formal request from CIC for account information, Pubali Bank did not provide any details regarding the locker. After learning of the locker’s existence, the NBR sent letters to all scheduled banks across the country, leading to the current investigation.

In a related case, the ACC recently filed six cases against Sheikh Hasina, her family, and 23 others for allegedly acquiring a 60-decimal government plot in Purbachal illegally through abuse of power. The commission is also investigating other corruption allegations against Sheikh Hasina.